Glaciers and the study of climate and sea-level change

doi:10.1017/CBO9780511535659.018

16 - Glaciers and the study of climate and sea-level change

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 16 October 2009

Mark B. Dyurgerov and

Mark F. Meier

Edited by

Jonathan L. Bamber and

Antony J. Payne

Foreword by

John Houghton

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Mark B. Dyurgerov: Affiliation:
Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR), University of Colorado
Mark F. Meier: Affiliation:
Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR), University of Colorado
Jonathan L. Bamber: Affiliation:
University of Bristol
Antony J. Payne: Affiliation:
University of Bristol

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Summary

Introduction

Glacier variations have been of interest for hundreds of years because they can be sensitive indicators of changes in climate. More recently, the role of glacier runoff on the hydrology of mountain regions and the impact of glacier wastage on global sea level have become active areas of scientific effort.

We analyse observational data and the state of health of mountain and sub-polar glaciers for the last several decades, and connection of their changes to climate fluctuations and the global water cycle. We deal here with all glaciers on Earth, excluding the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets. This analysis is mainly based on our most recently updated time series of mass balance components (Dyurgerov (2002); see http://instaar.colorado.edu/other/occ_papers.html). Every effort has been made to include data from all global sources of information, to check data quality and to eliminate errors.

The quantity and quality of data are far better for the northern hemisphere (especially Europe, Canada, USA and the former Soviet Union (FSU), than for the southern hemisphere. About 70% of the measurements have been carried out in Scandinavia, the Alps, the mountains of the USA, Canada, and the FSU, and the other 30% are sparsely distributed in many other mountain and sub-polar regions (Figure 16.1).

Type: Chapter
Information: Mass Balance of the Cryosphere
Observations and Modelling of Contemporary and Future Changes
, pp. 579 - 622

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511535659.018 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2004

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