Global Glacier Changes PDF Download

Author: Michael Zemp
Publisher: UNEP/Earthprint
ISBN: 9789280728989
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 92

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Book Description
This publication is about the world's surface ice on land outside the two polar ice sheets. It provides a sound and well illustrated review on the basis of available data, the global distribution of glaciers and ice caps and their changes since maximum extents of the so-called Little ice Age. The work also presents the latest state of knowledge on glacier changes and discusses the challenges of the 21st century for the monitoring of glaciers and ice caps.

Author: Jeffrey S. Kargel
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3540798188
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 936

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Book Description
An international team of over 150 experts provide up-to-date satellite imaging and quantitative analysis of the state and dynamics of the glaciers around the world, and they provide an in-depth review of analysis methodologies. Includes an e-published supplement. Global Land Ice Measurements from Space - Satellite Multispectral Imaging of Glaciers (GLIMS book for short) is the leading state-of-the-art technical and interpretive presentation of satellite image data and analysis of the changing state of the world's glaciers. The book is the most definitive, comprehensive product of a global glacier remote sensing consortium, Global Land Ice Measurements from Space (GLIMS, http://www.glims.org). With 33 chapters and a companion e-supplement, the world's foremost experts in satellite image analysis of glaciers analyze the current state and recent and possible future changes of glaciers across the globe and interpret these findings for policy planners. Climate change is with us for some time to come, and its impacts are being felt by the world's population. The GLIMS Book, to be released about the same time as the IPCC's 5th Assessment report on global climate warming, buttresses and adds rich details and authority to the global change community's understanding of climate change impacts on the cryosphere. This will be a definitive and technically complete reference for experts and students examining the responses of glaciers to climate change. World experts demonstrate that glaciers are changing in response to the ongoing climatic upheaval in addition to other factors that pertain to the circumstances of individual glaciers. The global mosaic of glacier changes is documented by quantitative analyses and are placed into a perspective of causative factors. Starting with a Foreword, Preface, and Introduction, the GLIMS book gives the rationale for and history of glacier monitoring and satellite data analysis. It includes a comprehensive set of six "how-to" methodology chapters, twenty-five chapters detailing regional glacier state and dynamical changes, and an in-depth summary and interpretation chapter placing the observed glacier changes into a global context of the coupled atmosphere-land-ocean system. An accompanying e-supplement will include oversize imagery and other other highly visual renderings of scientific data.

Author: Vivien Gornitz
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231548893
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 364

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Book Description
The Arctic is thawing. In summer, cruise ships sail through the once ice-clogged Northwest Passage, lakes form on top of the Greenland Ice Sheet, and polar bears swim farther and farther in search of waning ice floes. At the opposite end of the world, floating Antarctic ice shelves are shrinking. Mountain glaciers are in retreat worldwide, unleashing flash floods and avalanches. We are on thin ice—and with melting permafrost’s potential to let loose still more greenhouse gases, these changes may be just the beginning. Vanishing Ice is a powerful depiction of the dramatic transformation of the cryosphere—the world of ice and snow—and its consequences for the human world. Delving into the major components of the cryosphere, including ice sheets, valley glaciers, permafrost, and floating ice, Vivien Gornitz gives an up-to-date explanation of key current trends in the decline of ice mass. Drawing on a long-term perspective gained by examining changes in the cryosphere and corresponding variations in sea level over millions of years, she demonstrates the link between thawing ice and sea-level rise to point to the social and economic challenges on the horizon. Gornitz highlights the widespread repercussions of ice loss, which will affect countless people far removed from frozen regions, to explain why the big meltdown matters to us all. Written for all readers and students interested in the science of our changing climate, Vanishing Ice is an accessible and lucid warning of the coming thaw.

Author: Uli M. Huber
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 140203508X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 642

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Book Description
This book gives an overview of the state of research in fields pertaining to the detection, understanding and prediction of global change impacts in mountain regions. More than sixty contributions from paleoclimatology, cryospheric research, hydrology, ecology, and development studies are compiled in this volume, each with an outlook on future research directions. The book will interest meteorologists, geologists, botanists and climatologists.

Author: Mauri Pelto
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1119068118
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 233

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Book Description
Glaciers are considered a key and an iconic indicator of climate change. The World Glacier Monitoring Service has noted that global alpine balance has been negative for 35 consecutive years. This highlights the dire future that alpine glaciers face. The goal of this volume is to tell the story, glacier by glacier, of response to climate change from 1984-2015. Of the 165 glaciers examined in 10 different alpine regions, 162 have retreated significantly. It is evident that the changes are significant, not happening at a "glacial" pace, and are profoundly affecting alpine regions. There is a consistent result that reverberates from mountain range to mountain range, which emphasizes that although regional glacier and climate feedbacks differ, global changes are driving the response. This book considers ten different glaciated regions around the individual glaciers, and offers a different tune to the same chorus of glacier volume loss in the face of climate change.

Author: Vijay P. Singh
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9048126428
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 1301

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Book Description
The earth’s cryosphere, which includes snow, glaciers, ice caps, ice sheets, ice shelves, sea ice, river and lake ice, and permafrost, contains about 75% of the earth’s fresh water. It exists at almost all latitudes, from the tropics to the poles, and plays a vital role in controlling the global climate system. It also provides direct visible evidence of the effect of climate change, and, therefore, requires proper understanding of its complex dynamics. This encyclopedia mainly focuses on the various aspects of snow, ice and glaciers, but also covers other cryospheric branches, and provides up-to-date information and basic concepts on relevant topics. It includes alphabetically arranged and professionally written, comprehensive and authoritative academic articles by well-known international experts in individual fields. The encyclopedia contains a broad spectrum of topics, ranging from the atmospheric processes responsible for snow formation; transformation of snow to ice and changes in their properties; classification of ice and glaciers and their worldwide distribution; glaciation and ice ages; glacier dynamics; glacier surface and subsurface characteristics; geomorphic processes and landscape formation; hydrology and sedimentary systems; permafrost degradation; hazards caused by cryospheric changes; and trends of glacier retreat on the global scale along with the impact of climate change. This book can serve as a source of reference at the undergraduate and graduate level and help to better understand snow, ice and glaciers. It will also be an indispensable tool containing specialized literature for geologists, geographers, climatologists, hydrologists, and water resources engineers; as well as for those who are engaged in the practice of agricultural and civil engineering, earth sciences, environmental sciences and engineering, ecosystem management, and other relevant subjects.

Author: Ezra B. W. Zubrow
Publisher: SUNY Press
ISBN: 1438475632
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 474

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Book Description
Explores the unprecedented and rapid climate changes occurring in the Arctic environment. Climate change, one of the drivers of global change, is controversial in political circles, but recognized in scientific ones as being of central importance today for the United States and the world. In The Big Thaw, the editors bring together experts, advocates, and academic professionals who address the serious issue of how climate change in the Circumpolar Arctic is affecting and will continue to affect environments, cultures, societies, and economies throughout the world. The contributors discuss a variety of topics, including anthropology, sociology, human geography, community economics, regional development and planning, and political science, as well as biogeophysical sciences such as ecology, human-environmental interactions, and climatology. “This book offers a valuable compendium on a broad spectrum of issues associated with climate change, its implications, and human adaptation in the Arctic.” — Andrey N. Petrov, coauthor of Arctic Sustainability Research: Past, Present, and Future

Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309261015
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 218

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Book Description
Scientific evidence shows that most glaciers in South Asia's Hindu Kush Himalayan region are retreating, but the consequences for the region's water supply are unclear, this report finds. The Hindu Kush Himalayan region is the location of several of Asia's great river systems, which provide water for drinking, irrigation, and other uses for about 1.5 billion people. Recent studies show that at lower elevations, glacial retreat is unlikely to cause significant changes in water availability over the next several decades, but other factors, including groundwater depletion and increasing human water use, could have a greater impact. Higher elevation areas could experience altered water flow in some river basins if current rates of glacial retreat continue, but shifts in the location, intensity, and variability of rain and snow due to climate change will likely have a greater impact on regional water supplies. Himalayan Glaciers: Climate Change, Water Resources, and Water Security makes recommendations and sets guidelines for the future of climate change and water security in the Himalayan Region. This report emphasizes that social changes, such as changing patterns of water use and water management decisions, are likely to have at least as much of an impact on water demand as environmental factors do on water supply. Water scarcity will likely affect the rural and urban poor most severely, as these groups have the least capacity to move to new locations as needed. It is predicted that the region will become increasingly urbanized as cities expand to absorb migrants in search of economic opportunities. As living standards and populations rise, water use will likely increase-for example, as more people have diets rich in meat, more water will be needed for agricultural use. The effects of future climate change could further exacerbate water stress. Himalayan Glaciers: Climate Change, Water Resources, and Water Security explains that changes in the availability of water resources could play an increasing role in political tensions, especially if existing water management institutions do not better account for the social, economic, and ecological complexities of the region. To effectively respond to the effects of climate change, water management systems will need to take into account the social, economic, and ecological complexities of the region. This means it will be important to expand research and monitoring programs to gather more detailed, consistent, and accurate data on demographics, water supply, demand, and scarcity.

Author: Peter G. Knight
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0470750235
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 544

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Book Description
Glacier Science and Environmental Change is an authoritative and comprehensive reference work on contemporary issues in glaciology. It explores the interface between glacier science and environmental change, in the past, present, and future. Written by the world’s foremost authorities in the subject and researchers at the scientific frontier where conventional wisdom of approach comes face to face with unsolved problems, this book provides: state-of-the-art reviews of the key topics in glaciology and related disciplines in environmental change cutting-edge case studies of the latest research an interdisciplinary synthesis of the issues that draw together the research efforts of glaciologists and scientists from other areas such as geologists, hydrologists, and climatologists color-plate section (with selected extra figures provided in color at www.blackwellpublishing.com/knight). The topics in this book have been carefully chosen to reflect current priorities in research, the interdisciplinary nature of the subject, and the developing relationship between glaciology and studies of environmental change. Glacier Science and Environmental Change is essential reading for advanced undergraduates, postgraduate research students, and professional researchers in glaciology, geology, geography, geophysics, climatology, and related disciplines.

Author: Danilo Godone
Publisher: BoD – Books on Demand
ISBN: 9535135430
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 188

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Book Description
Glaciers have always played an important role in human history, and currently, they are carefully observed as climate change sentinels. Glacier melt rate is increasing, and its mass balance is continuously negative. This issue deserves accurate and in-depth studies in order to, adequately, monitor its state. This circumstance in fact endangers the water supply, affecting human settlements but also creating new environments allowing the colonization by pioneer communities and the formation of new landscapes. This book is subdivided into two main sections in order to deal with the two topics of worldwide research on glaciers and ecology in glacial environments. In the first one "Glaciers in the World," several reviews and studies are collected. It is an overview of glaciers, their state, and research carried out in different continents and contexts. The second section "Glacial Ecosystems" focuses, on the other hand, on glacier environments and ecological researches.