| Selected
Examples of Ice Melt Around the World |
|
|
|
| Name |
Location |
Measured Loss |
|
|
|
| Arctic Sea Ice |
Arctic Ocean |
Over the last 35 years, ice has thinned
from average of 3.1 meters to 1.8 meters. Could be ice-free during
summer by 2050. |
| Greenland Ice Sheet |
Greenland |
Has thinned by more than a meter a
year on its southern and eastern edges since 1993. |
| Glacier National Park |
Rocky Mtns., United States |
Since 1850, the number of glaciers
has dropped from 150 to fewer than 50. Remaining glaciers could disappear
completely in 30 years. |
| Larsen B Ice Shelf |
Antarctic Peninsula |
Calved a 300 km2 iceberg in early
1998. Lost an additional 1,714 km2 during the 1998-1999 season, and
300 km2 so far during the 1999-2000 season. |
| Dokriani Bamak Glacier |
Himalayas, India |
Retreated by 20 meters in 1998, compared
with 16.5 meters over the previous 5 years. |
| Tien Shan Mountains |
Central Asia |
Twenty-two percent of glacial ice
volume has disappeared in the past 40 years. |
| Caucasus Mountains |
Russia |
Glacial volume has declined by 50
percent in the past century. |
| Alps |
Western Europe |
Glacial volume has shrunk by more
than 50 percent since 1850. Glaciers could be reduced to only a small
fraction of their present mass within decades. |
| Kilimanjaro |
Tanzania |
Ice cap shrunk by 33 percent from
1989 to 2000. Could disappear by 2015. |
| Quelccaya Ice Cap |
Andes, Peru |
Rate of retreat increased to 30 meters
a year in the 1990s, up from only 3 meters a year; will likely disappear
before 2020. |
|
|
|
| Source: Updated by Earth
Policy Institute from Lisa Mastny, "Melting of Earth's Ice Cover Reaches
New High," Worldwatch News Brief, (Washington, DC; Worldwatch Institute,
6 March 2000). |
