A natural cooling mechanism has been shielding the world’s mountain glaciers from increasingly warm summer melt seasons, but new research by an international science team says the protective process will break down by mid-century. Glaciers at that time will be fully susceptible to the warming overlying atmosphere, though the timing and extent of that response […]
SITKAGI BLUFFS — While paddling a glacial lake complete with icebergs and milky blue water, I dipped my left hand, then tasted my fingers. Salty. That was a surprise to me, thirsty there on the edge of the colossal disc of Malaspina Glacier. I was traveling with two friends, mostly on foot. We had inflated […]
An international study has found that Earth’s glaciers will lose 76% of their 2020 mass under current climate policy pledges made by nations. Those pledges would lead to a global mean temperature 4.9 degrees Fahrenheit above preindustrial levels. Consequences of the glacier mass loss include a 9-inch sea level rise, changes in biodiversity and increased […]
Climate change is creating new pathways for the spread of infectious diseases like brucellosis, tularemia, or E. coli in the Arctic, according to a broad international consortium of scientists with a wide range of expertise in human, animal, and environmental health in the North Pole. The scientists have published their findings in the journal Science of the Total […]