A CALL FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIATRY

[Edward Schreiber]

It is time to bring our method to a new level.  A call to all of us  
to join together



CNN REPORTS
Glaciers a canary in the coal mine of global warming
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
A 50-year government study found world's glaciers melting at rapid,  
alarming rate
Study is latest in series that found glaciers melting faster than  
anyone predicted
Study shows accelerating climate change and warming earth, say authors



(CNN) -- U.S. scientists monitoring shrinking glaciers in Washington  
State and Alaska reported this week that a major meltdown is under way.




The Gulcana glacier in Alaska is one of three glaciers considered a  
benchmark by the U.S. Geological Survey.



A 50-year government study found that the world's glaciers are  
melting at a rapid and alarming rate. The ongoing study is the latest  
in a series of reports that found glaciers worldwide are melting  
faster than anyone had predicted they would just a few years ago. It  
offers a clear indication of an accelerating climate change and  
warming earth, according to the authors.

Since 1959, the U.S. Geological Survey, which published the study on  
its Web site, has been tracking the movements of the South Cascade  
glacier in Washington State and the Wolverine and Gulcana glaciers in  
Alaska. The three glaciers are considered "benchmarks" for the  
conditions of thousands of other glaciers because they're in  
different climate zones and at various elevations.

"These changes are taking place in Washington State and Alaska in  
three different climate regimes," said Edward Josberger, the lead  
researcher on the study with the USGS Washington Water Science Center  
in Tacoma, Washington. "So we feel it's definitely something going  
on, probably on a global scale, and of course, if you look at other  
such measurements around the world and put it all together, yes,  
glaciers are retreating and retreating rapidly."

In a telephone interview with CNN, Josberger called the unprecedented  
glacial melt the "canary in the coal mine."

The half-century record contains measurements of the amount of snow  
that has fallen on the glaciers each winter and on how much ice has  
melted off each summer. The data give scientists a sense of whether  
the glacier is getting more "healthy" or losing mass, Josberger said.  
They also indicate what's happening to mountain glaciers in other  
parts of the world, the scientist said.

"We feel it's definitely the signature of global change and climate  
warming," Josberger said.

The melt of glaciers is resulting in higher sea levels and affecting  
ecosystems and the rivers that emanate from these glaciers, Josberger  
said. "In terms of water supply available for people, Anchorage is  
fed by two glacially fed lakes. There are some very strong impacts  
that could happen."

The rate at which a glacier melts depends on its thickness and mass  
and, of course, on the temperature. Even small changes in temperature  
of only one to two degrees can have a significant impact on the  
environment, according the the National Weather Service.

"We've been using this 50-year record to interpret the changes or the  
response of glaciers to climate change," Josberger said. "Basically,  
in the past 10, 15 or 20 years these three glaciers are wasting away.  
The melting has far exceeded the amount of snow that falls on them in  
the winter, so they're retreating far up valley. And this retreat is  
taking place all over the Pacific Northwest and Alaska."

For example, Washington's South Cascade glacier has lost half its  
volume since 1960 and is predicted to lose half its current volume in  
100 years.

And, if the canary analogy proves true, the ice retreat is likely  
occurring all over the world, too, he said.

Glacier melt will likely continue and, as it does, sea levels around  
the world are expected to continue rising. And that could affect  
people in low-lying coastal communities, forcing them from their  
homes and further inland, experts say. E-mail to a friend 

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