Scientists have found that glaciers in the Karakoram mountain range in the Himalayas for the last time, not only reduced the amount of stored ice, but may even have increased in size. This occurred despite the fact that on average the world glaciers and ice caps are reduced in volume. The article was published in the journal Nature Geoscience.
Researchers compared data on mountain terrain in the area of more than 5000 square kilometers, obtained in 1999 and 2008. The first surveys were carried out using equipment installed on the space shuttle "Endeavour" and the second - French satellite SPOT5.
As a result, researchers found that from 1999 to 2008 the Himalayan glaciers are on average increased in thickness to the amount of snow melted in the height of which would amount to a 11-33 centimeters.
Scientists are still difficult to say what caused this behavior. Graham Cogley, a glaciologist at the University of Trent in Peterborough (Ontario) believes that the authors took into account all the known problems associated with comparing different data sets. "There is no doubt that the glaciers of the Karakoram is not exhausted, but why it happens, we do not know," - commented on the results of the work done by Kenneth Hewitt, a geographer at the University of Waterloo, Wilfried Lurie at (Ontario).
Some data indicate that over the past 40 years, the climate became colder Himalayan despite global trend. According to the meteorological stations in the area of mining from 1960 to 2000 increased winter precipitation and decreased summer temperatures. During the same period the volume of local rivers fed by glaciers, decreased by 20 percent.
In early April, reported the start of the 2012 large-scale project on monitoring of Himalayan glaciers. The project has an international team of glaciologists are made twice a year, terrestrial and satellite measurements the glaciers.
In the 2007 annual report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said that the Himalayas free from snow by 2035 or sooner. Later, members of the commission recognized this error caused by a permutation of the digits in the date. There is should be 2350, instead of 2035.
NASA reports that on the night of 6 / 7 July from the Greenland glacier Jakobshavn broke the ice block area of 7 square kilometers, resulting in ice overnight retreat immediately at 1,5 km.
It should be noted that over the past 160 years, the glacier retreated Yakobshavn 45 km, and over the past 10 years, just 10 kilometers.
According to scientists, 10% of all "ice losses in Greenland falls on this glacier.Recall that the melting of Greenland would raise sea levels by 7 meters.
Greenland as a result of mass loss of glaciers gradually "emerges".
Some mountain areas of Greenland each year rise of about 2,5 cm According to calculations by Professor Tim Dixon of the University of Miami, if the trend of melting of glaciers continues, by 2025, Greenland is rising annually by 5 cm.
The activity awakened the west of Iceland volcano Eyjafjallajokull on Saturday has risen, according to the Associated Press referring to specialists in the field monitoring the volcano.
The thick dark-gray cloud of 8.5 kilometers is seen above the volcano. On Friday, the cloud was high at 6 kilometers. On Saturday, the wind improved visibility, which allows scientists the first to orbit the crater of the volcano to determine his further activity. The scientists can determine the approximate duration of the eruption, after learning how much ice melted.
Professor Gudmundson said Friday that while they can not predict the behavior of the volcano in the near future. The eruption may stop tomorrow, but may continue to disrupt the normal operation of air transport for a few weeks or even months.
Volcanic eruption on the glacier Eyjafjallajokull located 200 kilometers from the capital of Iceland - Reykjavik, began in late March 2010. However, in mid-April volcano again intensified. About 800 persons were evacuated last Wednesday due to a volcanic eruption in its immediate vicinity. The huge cloud of ash was emitted in the atmosphere , which led to the closure of airspace over a large territory of Europe. In addition, the eruption has caused the melting of ice and massive floods in the south of Iceland. Last activity of the volcano Eyjafjallajokull the south of Iceland was registered in 1821.
On Thursday, Friday and Saturday in connection with the eruption of the volcano was closed airspace of most European countries. A cloud of volcanic dust is dangerous for the aircraft, because it contains particles of rocks and silicates, having an abrasive effect and can lead to stopping the engine.