Glacier Melt Creates Unprotected Ecosystems
Published: Wednesday, Aug 16th 2023, 16:00
Updated At: Friday, Oct 13th 2023, 14:12
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Glaciers around the world could lose up to half of their area by the end of the century, according to a study published in the prestigious journal Nature. Depending on the extent of climate warming, the analysis predicts that an area of ice-free land three and a half to eight times the size of Switzerland will be created by the retreat of glaciers. This could lead to one of the fastest changes in ecosystems on Earth. The study focused on the ecology of newly emerging ice-free areas, and found that understanding these post-glacial ecosystems is important. They could provide refuge for cold-adapted species displaced elsewhere by warming, and could increase local biodiversity and the speed of energy conversion into organic matter. The researchers therefore call for these new ice-free areas to be protected, as currently less than half of the glaciated areas are protected. The glacier retreat is unavoidable, but the amount of ice lost can be limited with strong climate protection measures. The researchers used a global glacier development model to predict the development of glaciers outside the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets until the year 2100. Glaciers outlines, digital terrain models of the terrain and climatic data were used to predict the reaction of each glacier to climate scenarios until 2100. The model also predicted the properties of the developing ecosystems.nnnnnnnnnn
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