Antarctic glaciers retreat under climate onslaught
Biggest changes have occurred in last five years, say scientists
Ian Sample, science correspondent
Friday April 22, 2005
The Guardian
Glaciers on the Antarctic Peninsula are shrinking rapidly as a result of climate change, scientists have found. In the most comprehensive study of its kind, researchers measured 244 glaciers on the peninsula, each typically stretching tens of miles from the Antarctic mountains to the surrounding seas.
They found 87% had retreated significantly in the past 50 years. The peninsula is the most northern part of Antarctica, and the only part of the continent that extends outside the Antarctic Circle. It lies in the western hemisphere, facing South America.
Alison Cook, a scientist with the British Antarctic Survey, built up a picture of the glaciers' history by taking measurements from more than 2,000 aerial photographs taken since the 1940s, along with more than 100 modern satellite images.
She found that the vast majority of glaciers had begun to shrink, with the most dramatic retreats being seen since the turn of the millennium. "Fifty years ago, most of the glaciers we looked at were slowly growing in length, but since then this pattern has changed. In the last five years, the majority were actually shrinking rapidly," she said.
The Guardian
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