A Melting World: The Effects of Accelerated Glacial Recession (Essay #1: Position - Rough Draft)

Torrents of water rushing down from once benign mountain lakes are killing thousands of people, coastal villages are being destroyed, and water supplies are being severely threatened by one of the newest natural killers in the world. What is this killer and is this reality or fiction? Glacial melting is the killer in question, and currently this statement is fictional, however there is good reason to believe that this fictional statement is about to become a reality. Although many people believe that accelerated glacial recession is not a concern, it is a major problem because it has the potential to create catastrophic flooding, it is a cause of dramatic climate change, and because much of the world’s fresh water supply is held within the glaciers of the earth.

First one should have a basic understanding of glaciers and what the term means when being used within the context of this paper. According to (Earth Revealed) the definition of the word glacier is, “a large, long-lasting mass of ice, formed on land by the compaction and recrystallization of snow, which moves because of its own weight.” At the same time (Earth Revealed) defines the word ice cap as, “a glacier covering a relatively small area of land but not restricted to a valley,” and once again (Earth Revealed) defines an ice sheet as, “a glacier covering a large area (more than 50,000 square kilometers) of land.” For the purposes of this paper the term glacier will be used to represent any mass of ice which was formed through the process of recrystallization; therefore the term glacier will be used to represent valley glaciers, ice sheets, and ice caps, unless otherwise noted. The process of recrystallization as stated is a fairly simple concept. In its most basic form recrystallization can be described as snow falling in an area where due to one climate variable or another, the snow does not completely melt away before more snow falls on top of the older snow. This process continues over a period of many years and eventually the snow layers that have been buried start to bond together, eventually creating what we call glacier ice.

The basic geography of a glacier consists of three parts, there is the accumulation zone, which in relative terms usually occupies the higher elevations of glacier. It is in this zone that more snow falls annually then actually melts, and in turn causes a glacier to grow, or to recede if that snowfall starts to lessen. The second geographic area of a glacier is the ablation zone, this area is generally lower in elevation than the accumulation zone, and it is here that the snow melts off usually resulting in bare ice during warmer months. The third region of a glacier is called the terminus; this is the end of the glacier. A moraine on a glacier is basically a pile of ground up rock and debris that is left in piles along the glaciers sides. Sometimes moraines come together as glaciers from different valleys merge together causing these moraines to run down the center of a glacier, running lengthwise with the glacier, these are called lateral moraines. Another type of moraine that forms is called a terminal moraine, and this type is formed at the end, or terminus of the glacier. A terminal moraine formed at the end of a glacier is basically a large pile of rock and debris, and as the glacier recedes farther beyond this moraine, the debris pile is left in place. Sometimes when these debris piles are leftover they form dams, causing the melting waters coming from the glacier to develop lakes behind these debris piles. As one can imagine, the faster a glacier melts, the more water is melted away and left to fill these glacial lakes, and if the water enters the lakes faster than the lakes can empty the water through small run-off streams, then “wham!!,” the natural dam formed by the old terminal moraine fails, causing thousands of gallons of water to rush forth in a torrential flood, annihilating anything in the path of these killers. According to the United Nations Environment Programme [sic] (UNEP) and the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), they have “… reported the finding of at least 44 glacial lakes in the Himalayas that are filling so rapidly they could burst their banks in as little as five years’ time, sending millions of gallons of deadly floodwaters swirling down valleys and putting tens of thousands of lives at risk. The lakes are rapidly filling with icy water as rising temperatures in the region accelerate the melting of glaciers and snowfields that feed them.” http://www.un.org/Pubs/chronicle/2002/issue3/0302p48_glacial_lakes_flood_threat.htmlThis is just one of the few problems associated with accelerated glacial recession.

Another problem facing the planet is that not only is the rate at which glaciers are melting increasing due to climate changes, but the accelerated rate also has the potential to cause some very significant climate changes in itself, thus causing a very violent and horrific cycle. Science Daily recently published an article, “According to two international-research studies on the last ice age, studies with the participation of Dr. Rainer Zahn, research professor in the ICREA at the UAB Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA) … when the great ice sheets covering North America and Scandanavia [sic] melted at the end of the last ice age, the subsequent flow of fresh water into the North Atlantic caused the greatest natural disturbance in ocean circulation in the last 20,000 years.” http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/05/070507113401.htm Of course the ocean helps to regulate the different climates of the earth by a mechanism of heating and cooling. According to Dr. Zahn and the international-research studies, “Any variation in ocean circulation may lead to substantial and abrupt climate changes (that is to say over less than 30 years) on a global scale.” These facts lead one to believe that the acceleration of glacial recession is in fact a very large problem facing the earth.

Still there is yet another very large problem associated with accelerated glacial recession, and that is the fact that according to information presented by the United States Geologic Survey (USGS) webpage, “Water Science for Schools,” pertaining to where the earth’s freshwater is stored, “…about 69 [sic] percent, is locked up in glaciers and icecaps…” Whereas if you use the table presented on the same page, it states that only 0.26 percent of fresh water is stored in lakes. What does this mean to the people of the world? In some regions there are whole populations that are dependent on glacial runoff as the primary source of water, and with the accelerated rate of glacial recession there is a great risk of a large-scale freshwater shortage in the near future.

Some would argue that accelerated glacial recession is just a natural phenomena and that it is the natural cycle of the earth to have the glaciers of the world melt at such an alarming rate. However, there is a large amount of evidence against this point of view, and due to the reasons that were just stated it is well worth looking at the issue of accelerated glacial recession. These problems are not just localized problems, when they happen it will impact each and every person living on this planet.

There is a time to stand still and do nothing, and there is a time to act. The time to do nothing has passed, and the time to act is upon us. As a person, as a nation, and as a global community we need to provide more in the way of research and try to understand what is happening to the glaciers of this world. It is imperative to the survival of our population as a whole that we find out why the glaciers are melting at such a fast rate and if there is anything we can do to help once again slow down the rate of recession.