The melting of glaciers

Ice is memory. A database of temperatures and climate change. It is a living archive of the history of climate. It is our planetary freezer. A mass of frozen snow that moves and, through a process called mass balance, maintains the shape of the ice sheet and keeps sea levels stable. It grows at higher altitudes and melts at the edges. It accumulates as much ice as it loses. Quite the careful steward!
 

The melting of glaciers: a great loss

As much as 28 trillion tons of ice were lost globally over 24 years, from 1994 to 2017. This alarming figure emerged from a study by researchers at the University of Leeds. The ice melting most rapidly comes mainly from Greenland, smaller glaciers and, more recently, Antarctica as well. 
 

The causes of glacier melt

Glacier melt is nothing more than the consequence of one essential phenomenon: global warming. When talking about global warming, the first point to consider is the climate system, that is, the set of natural processes affecting the Earth’s surface according to latitude, giving rise to different climatic and latitudinal zones. At the moment, we are facing a climate variation on a reduced timescale, trending toward climatic warming: the retreat of glaciers.

We humans, too, are contributing to climate change. Indeed, the main causes of the planet’s territorial, structural and climatic changes are attributed to us, to human beings and our activities. This is due mainly to the extensive industrialization of our planet, which has led to:

• Higher CO2 emissions into the atmosphere: the Earth’s temperature has increased above all because of CO2 emissions and other greenhouse gases resulting from human industrial activities.
• Intensive burning of fossil fuels: the combustion of fossil fuels generates sulfuric, carbonic and nitric acids, which fall back to Earth as acid rain and negatively affect the environment.
• Increased deforestation: cutting down trees, whether for commercial reasons or to create new land for agriculture and urban expansion, reduces the oxygen in the atmosphere and the absorption of carbon dioxide in the air.

Glacier melt in Antarctica

The melting of Antarctica’s two largest glaciers, Pine Island and Thwaites, has reached the point of no return. This could lead to a rise in sea levels of more than 3 meters. According to the Leeds researchers’ study, ice losses recorded from 1994 to 2007 include 2.5 trillion tons from the Antarctic ice sheet.
 

Glacier melt in Greenland

According to a study** published in PNAS, the massive ice loss recorded in Greenland over the last 20 years is due to the process of “undercutting.” This means that, as glaciers retreat, they come into contact with the warmer bodies of water beneath them. The ice is therefore melted from below, causing greater thinning, which in turn encourages further retreat. According to the Leeds researchers’ study, ice losses recorded from 1994 to 2007 include 3.8 trillion tons from the Greenland ice sheet.
 

Glacier melt in Iceland

Iceland is full of ice. There is ice everywhere. About 11% of the entire country is covered by ice. It is striking that in Iceland itself, in August 2019, the first glacier was declared “dead.” Its name was Ok—though in the end, things were far from okay… Over the next 200 years, all our glaciers could meet the same fate as Ok. And here too, things are far from okay…
 

The melting of Alpine glaciers in Italy

Glaciers in Italy are also at risk of melting. According to “Carovana dei ghiacciai,” Legambiente’s latest report on the situation in the Alps, at least 7 Italian glaciers are at risk of melting due to climate change: Miage, Valle d’Aosta; Monte Rosa, Piedmont; Forni, Lombardy; Sforzellina, Lombardy; Marmolada, Veneto - Trentino-Alto Adige; Fradusta, Trentino-Alto Adige; Montasio, Friuli Venezia Giulia. 

 
The Earth is changing, and humankind is driving that change. Through it all, glaciers move, expand, grow and shrink.
Would you like to admire this wonder of frozen mass? Our trip to Iceland might be just right for you. Take a look at the itinerary!