A team of geologists and geoscientists affiliated with several institutions in Switzerland and two in France, has created a model designed to predict the amount of glacier loss up to the year 2100 and the ecosystems that will arise in their place.
In their paper, published in the journal Nature, the group describes the factors that went into their models. They also argue for the protection of new ecosystems that develop as deglaciation occurs. Nicolas Lecomte with the University of Moncton has published a News & Views piece in the same journal issue, outlining the work done by the team on this new effort.
Prior research has shown that glaciers all across the globe are slowly melting due to global warming. Now, the research team has attempted to estimate the global scope of the problem, while also pointing out that land beneath the glaciers will become new ecosystems and should be protected, if possible.
To create their model, the team used global glacier evolution models that rely on historical expanse data and estimated rises in temperatures to make predictions about future melting amounts for glaciers all over the world—not including those in Antarctica and the Greenland ice sheets.
They aimed to predict how much change could be coming for mountainous and wetland glaciers. They were able to model deglaciation areas which, they note, will become new ecosystems over the years leading up to the turn of the century. In developing their model, they allowed for the different degrees of global warming.
2023-08-17 23:24:02
Article from phys.org rnrn