CLIMATE CHANGE | WATER | GLOBAL WARMING
Glacial Meltdown 2022! What Made the Eternal Ice Disappear?
In September, Germany lost one of its 5 glaciers. The following article will cover why the glaciers are melting and what effects this will have.
We constantly read about the melting of permafrost due to global warming. As a result, sea levels are threatening to rise.
Usually, we think of the Arctic or Antarctic — far away from our home. At least that’s the case for most of us. But today I want to draw attention to the local area.
And on a local scale, this means above all the drying up of important river sources! After all, these originate in the mountains, where ice and snow accumulate.
If there are no glaciers, the water sources also disappear.
Due to the rapid melting, the potential drinking water flows into the sea and is thus lost. As a result, the groundwater level also declines.
The Southern Schneeferner in the Alps is Gone
As recently as 2021, glacier researchers gave the non-eternal ice time until the end of the 21st century. But when, after a dry winter in 2022, the heatwave summer hit Europe, even the researchers were surprised.
By September 2022, no more than 1 hectare of the former glacier was left, so it was stripped of its status.
But what was different about the summer of 2022 that researchers apparently didn’t expect?
👉 Cold air bursts usually bring fresh snow on a regular basis in the mountains, which covers the ice layer like a protective blanket. The white color of the snow also ensures that the sunlight and its heat are reflected instead of being absorbed.
This is also known as the albedo effect.
This albedo effect did not occur last summer, which is why the ice absorbed the solar energy and warmed up additionally.
Currently, there are still 4 German glaciers, but they are also melting. And it is probably only a question of time before these will also become a thing of the past. This can happen faster than expected, as we have witnessed this summer in 2022.
👉 As a reminder, rivers originate from glacial mountains. This also includes big names such as the Rhine.
Glaciers on the Rest of the World
Not only in Europe is there a local threat of ice melt. Whether in Africa, Asia, or North/South America — the effects are felt everywhere.
- The Himalayas have lost about a third of their glacier area during the past 4 to 7 centuries.
- Kilimanjaro, also known as the highest mountain in Africa, has had to lose more than 80% of its snow and ice areas since 1912. Forecasts predict that this mountain will be glacier-free by 2040.
- The fastest melting ice masses in the world are in Chile and Argentina. Meltwater from the Patagonian Glaciers is lost to the sea on the western side. This not only leads to a loss of fresh water but also causes sea levels to rise.
- On the Canadian island of Baffin, land areas are partially exposed that have been under ice for over 40,000 years! Unfortunately, more habitable land is being lost than gained, due to increasing disasters such as forest fires, floods, and droughts.
The Problem With Tipping Points
As already mentioned, a snow cover provides for the so-called albedo effect. This means that solar energy is reflected instead of being absorbed by the earth.
If this white surface is reduced, less solar heat is reflected overall, which means that global warming accelerates. 👉 It is ultimately an exponentially increasing process!
The more the glaciers continue to melt, the harder it becomes to stop the process until it eventually becomes irreversible.
Consequences are:
- A global rise in sea levels 🌊
- Loss of drinking water sources 💧
- Accelerated global warming due to the absence of the albedo effect ♨️
- Local disasters such as flooding ⚠️
Image Examples
This was my contribution to the A Taste for Life Weekend Challenge #38, Prompt 7, provided by Jason Edmunds.
