AGU: Geophysical Research Letters

 

Editors' Highlight

Glaciers in Europe's Alps may disappear by 2100

During the past 150 years, many mountain ranges in Europe have lost a significant proportion of glacial extent, with strong acceleration occurring in the past two decades. To quantify past as well as potential evolutions of the area and volume of glacier ensembles within the European Alps in the context of impending climate change, Zemp et al. (2006) characterized the system using in situ measurements, remote sensing techniques, and numerical modeling. They found that between 1850 and 1970, Alpine glaciers lost 35% of their total surface area; by 2000, almost 50% had disappeared. Their estimates also place glacial volume levels in 1850 at about 200 km³; current volumes are only one third of this value. Using models based on the rate of glacier loss, and predicted temperatures and precipitation levels over the next century, the authors determined that a 3ºC warming of summer air would reduce the currently existing Alpine glacier cover by 80%. However, if temperatures were to rise by 5ºC, the Alps would be completely free of perennial surface ice.

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