Climate Change
M
ountain glaciers are melting,
and this is a threat to the
availability of freshwater. It
is calculated that 8 cubic
miles (35 cu km) of water
melts from the glaciers each year, which is
the glaciers' major contribution to raising
the global sea level; it is thought that the
continental ice sheet may play a significantly
larger role. The volume of the glaciers in the
European Alps and in the Caucasus
Mountains has been reduced by half, and in
Africa, only 8 percent of the largest glacier of
Mount Kenya still exists. If these tendencies
continue, by the end of the century, most
glaciers will have disappeared completely,
including those in Glacier National Park in
the United States. That will have powerful
repercussions on the water resources of
many parts of the world.
GODS AND RITUALS 76-77
CLIMATE ZONES 78-79
PALEOCLIMATOLOGY 80-81
THE PLANET WARMS UP 82-83
ACCELERATED MELTING 84-85
TOXIC RAIN86-87
WEAKER AND WEAKER 88-89
CHANGE; EVERYTHING CHANGES 90-91
GLACIERS IN ALASKA
Approximately 5 percent of the land is
covered by glaciers, which advance and
break up when they reach the ocean,
where they form impressive cliffs of ice.