A Melting Planet Essay -- Glaciers Ecology Essays

A Melting PlanetAlthough most glaciers and scrap sheets roost in areas that man does not inhabit, they are nevertheless key for rescript and the global environment. Due to anthropogenic activities over the past two centuries, the temperature of the public is rising at an alarming rate. This rise in temperatures has resulted in an general loss of ice mass worldwide, including a rapid depletion in potbelly glaciers. The effects of glacial melt will have a evidentiary impact on the future of the human race, so it is therefore important to have a firm understanding of glaciers. In order for a glacier to form, all of three conditions moldiness be met. Firstly, the climate of the area must be cold enough so that snow that falls during the antecedent winter does not melt away entirely before the conterminous winter begins. Next, the region must get enough precipitation in the form of snow for a sufficient amount of accumulation. Finally, the slope of the base must be gradual enou gh so that the accumulating snow does not avalanche away. As more and more snow accumulates over many years, it puts a wide deal of thrust on the underlying layers. The stop number layer of loose snow is 90% air and gives the surface of the glacier its snow-clad appearance. The next layer of snow is more granular and is roughly 50% air, while the final layer of snow is firm with only 25% air. Below these three layers, roughly at a depth of 250 meters, the pressure is so great that the snow forms into glacial ice, which gives glaciers their characteristic blue color. This ice has less than 20% air and it takes at least 10,000 years to form(Marshak 670-2). The great pressure on the bottom layers of ice also lowers the melting signalise of the ice. The pressure at the base of... ...el. Despite this fear of rising seas, lodge continues to abuse fossil fuels.Works CitedCyrosphere. http//www.panda.org/resources/publications/climate/climate_change/page4-5.htmGreenpeace Ka Roimato N ew Zealand. http//archive.greenpeace.org/climate/docs/franz.pdfMarshak, Stephen. humankind Portrait of a Planet. W.W. Norton & Company New York, 2001.National Science mental home Ice Sheets. http//www.nsf.gov/od/opp/support/icesheet.htmNesje, Alte. Glaciers and Environmental Change. Oxford University Press New York, 2000. Oerlemans, Johannes. Glaciers and temper Change. A.A. Balkema Publishers Lisse, 2001.USGS Glacier Monitoring in Glacier National Park. http//nrmsc.usgs.gov/research/glaciers.htmWarrick, R.A. Climate and Sea level Change Observations, Projections, and Implications. Cambridge University Press New York, 1993.