Why glaciers are melting?

Current glacier melting under climate warming has drawn wide attention around the world, Earth’s glaciers are melting much faster than scientists thought. According to analysis, almost 369 billion tons of ice is lost per annum, which is way more than the present ratio of ice in North America. Glaciers around the world are getting lost almost 5 times faster than the mid-20^th century. This process is resulting in the rise of sea levels to an extent that would be devastated for the people living in coastal areas. The glaciers are melting way faster in Europe, the region of the Caucasus, western Canada,48 lower states of the US, New Zealand and near the tropic. Glaciers located in these regions are losing an average mass of 1% per annum.

Why glaciers are melting?

Scientists have known for a long time that global warming is caused by human activities like burning coal, gasoline and diesel for electricity transportation is making earth lose its ice. The main concern is the ice sheets over Greenland and Antarctica. A study published in the journal Science has found that between 1851 and 2010, human was responsible for only a quarter of the global loss of glacier mass. The rest of the loss is due to natural factors such as radiation from the sun and volcanic eruption or activity. While in the last 20 years of that, the human contribution increased to 69%. This is the result of greenhouse gas emission pushing up global temperature. According to a study conducted at (University of Innsbruck), glaciers take decades to adjust to climate change.

History of Glaciers retreat

The Little Ice Age was a period from about 1550 to 1850 when the world experienced relatively cooler temperatures compared to the time. Before 1550 and after 1850 the climate around the world increased substantially which resulted in the retreats of glaciers to some extent.

Some Facts About Glaciers:

·       About 69% of the world's fresh water is stored in glaciers.

·       Glacierized areas cover over 15 million square kilometers (5.8million square miles) which is about 10% of land area on Earth. While in the maximum points of the last ice age, glaciers covered about 32 percent of the total land area.

·       If we consider that all of the land ice got to melt the result will be an increase in sea level about 230 feet.

·       Glacial ice often appears blue which due to the compression of thousands of years. This compression forces out the tiny bubbles from the ice which then forms the pure ice crystals which then absorbs the little red light in it, as a result, the glacial ice appears blue.