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.