Mountain Glaciers Hold Less Ice Than Earlier Thought. Why That's Bad News
NDTV
The finding of less ice will have implications for millions of people living around the world, particularly in regions that are highly dependent on glacier runoff for agriculture and as a buffer against drought.
Mountain glaciers shrinking due to climate change are less voluminous than previously understood, putting millions who depend on them for water supply at risk, researchers reported Monday.
Glaciers in the Andes Mountains of South America, for example, were found to store 23 percent less fresh water compared to earlier estimates, they wrote in the journal Nature Geoscience.
Bolivia's largest city La Paz, with more than two million inhabitants, is highly dependent on glacier runoff for agriculture and as a buffer against drought.
As the slow-moving rivers of ice lose more mass through melt-off than they gain with fresh snow, water flows become irregular -- including periods of flooding -- and eventually dry up, first in low altitude mountains, and eventually in higher ones.
