New Zealand glaciers shrinking at ‘alarming’ rate

Bloomberg – New Zealand glaciers retreat Dangerous, and scientists warn that the evolution of the situation will cause a shortage of snow and ice In the country’s Southern Alps.

According to a scientific analysis conducted every year by the National Institute for Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA), Glaciers are shrinking As a result of climate change and unusually hot summers. He Aerial Survey 46th Conducted since 1977 with assistance from Victoria University of Wellington and Department of Defence.

“Since the beginning of the study of ice lines, the Global temperature has risen sharply”, he explained Andrew Laurie, NIWA Chief Scientist coordinating the study. “This year, results Observations show no postponement or reversal of loss trends Ice cube. If they continue on this path, there will be more snow and ice loss at higher elevations.”

Snow line measurement Many hours of aerial photography are required Southern glaciers are used to create three-dimensional models that allow comparisons of snow and ice from one year to another.

Andrew MackintoshThe director of Melbourne’s Monash University School of Earth, Atmosphere and Environment was on the plane for the first time since 2016 and was surprised by the scale of the changes.

“I was surprised Position of small low glaciers, they have mostly disappeared,” he said. “Even for a glaciologist the scale of the retreat is daunting. Stresses the need to curb climate change Because the impacts will be increasingly costly and difficult to avoid”.

Glaciers like Fox and Franz Joseph Extending from the alpine spine of the country’s South Island, it has attracted tourists and explorers for decades.. The economies of many small towns near the edge of these ice flows are and already are dependent solely on visitor spending It experienced a slowdown because access was too difficult And melting snow increases the risks.

“It’s not just the risk of losing the glaciers and our close relationship with them altogether It will also affect people’s livelihood People depend on these natural wonders for tourism,” said Laurie.

Scientists The amount of ice is estimated to be more than 30% The Southern Alps have been lost in the last four decades.

New Zealand Experiencing rising temperatures In response to climate change, it is experiencing its third consecutive La Niña summer It brought hot and humid weather In several regions and one Ocean heat wave. The only chance to reverse the retreat of the glaciers is to reverse the warming of the Earth’s atmosphere, and because they grow much more slowly than they shrink, even that will take centuries, scientists say.

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