Study: Two-thirds of glaciers on track to disappear by 2100
Associated PressThe world’s glaciers are shrinking and disappearing faster than scientists thought, with two-thirds of them projected to melt out of existence by the end of the century at current climate change trends, according to a new study. In an also unlikely worst-case scenario of several degrees of warming, 83% of the world’s glaciers would likely disappear by the year 2100, study authors said. That would increase sea level rise by 4.5 inches in addition to seas already getting larger from melting ice sheets and warmer water, said study lead author David Rounce. Glaciers are crucial to people’s lives in much of the world, said National Snow and Ice Center Deputy Lead Scientist Twila Moon, who wasn’t part of the study. Moon said the study “represents significant advances in projecting how the world’s glaciers may change over the next 80 years due to human-created climate change.” That’s because the study includes factors in glacier changes that previous studies didn’t and is more detailed, said Ruth Mottram and Martin Stendel, climate scientists at the Danish Meteorological Institute who weren’t part of the research.