Melting glacier : global warming photos
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Global warming presentation
While the world keeps its eyes focused on Copenhagen, the naysayers in the global warming debates could do themselves a favor in the enlightening arena by spending some quality time with a melting glacier.
For those unfamiliar with such an experience, this hub is meant to provide a visual experience without any scientific data involved. There are, however, links at the end of this hub that complement, quite nicely, this global warming presentation and the visual awareness provided by these images.
Leaking water
On the list of total water reservoirs, glacier ice comes in second behind the world’s oceans. The leaking water effect created by melting glaciers is unfortunately not a topic of daily discussion. It should be. As glaciers continue to melt at an alarming rate, the issue of water demand takes on vital importance. Known primarily to the communities living downstream from these glaciers, the problem of a diminishing fresh water supply is beginning to heat up.
Worldwide, billions of people are dependent upon the seasonal meltwater from glaciers. In fact, many large cities are on a life-support system with glacial water. Lima, Peru, for instance, is home to over 8 million people, and is the world’s second largest city, after Cairo, located in a desert region.
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Water issues
The bulk of its drinking water is supplied by the Quelccaya Ice Cap, situated in Peru’s section of the Andes Mountains. This icecap is a stunning example of the effects of global warming. The naysayers are welcome to interject here and provide their best reason for being politically correct by suggesting it be called climate change. There is no reason.
This ice cap, at an average altitude of 18,600 feet, has lost more than 20% of its area since 1978, a conservative number, as many experts say this number is closer to 30%. Aerial images taken between 1963 and 1978 show an estimated annual retreat of 15 feet. Within the last ten years it is estimated that the ice cap is in retreat to the tune of 672 feet. Annually. Of the many water issues developing on the world stage, Lima is in the line of fire of major water wars.
Processing visual information
In Patagonia Sur, Parque Nacional Torres del Paine is home to the famous Glacier Grey. It is a unique experience to stand upon a melting glacier. The sound of a rushing river below the ice is unforgettable. The constant drip of water on the glacier surface is unnerving. The sight is unsettling. A glacier that up until ten years ago was retreating at the rate of 15 meters per year is now disappearing at the rate of 150 meters per year.
These are but two examples. There is no amount of visual training that can help in the processing of visual information for those unwilling to see. It is a lost cause and only they should be allowed to explain to their children and grandchildren the reason why.
Fortunately, news reports on this fast-approaching environmental catastrophe are emerging on a weekly basis. Unfortunately, the deniers have placed their propaganda machine into overdrive. The average world citizen makes a decision based on sensationalism or reality. Sensationalism wins, as the only reality they care about is the one coming to them in the form of cheap reality television.
Learning awareness
It is not enough that we fail to see what is happening. Compounding the problem is the fact that many of us live in denial, with severely limited abilities at learning awareness. Overmedicated and undereducated, many lives revolve around a mind-numbing consumer driven lifestyle.
We fail to listen as the earth speaks.
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hi ralph,
yes, correct. i'd thought about including the asian studies in here, but didn't want to get too lengthy.
scary times coming our way. the oil wars might pale in comparison.
Yes, we don't need oil to survive, but we do need clean water. Good info, and great photos. What a great job, to travel around and take beautiful pictures!
hi william,
water. it's as if we have a silent enemy that most people refuse to acknowledge.
there was a time when i did get to do some traveling. gone are the days. the patagonia trip was special though, years in the waiting.
Wow! First time I've seen photos on effects of global warming taken by somebody I know. I love them! - your photos, not the effects!
I talk about global warming and melting glaciers in my classes but I can never give first hand information. Now I can experience them vicariously through your pictures.
Thank you for sharing!
hey jill,
thanks for stopping by.
the glacier hike in patagonia, while exhilarating, was also very disturbing. to watch and listen to a true indicator of our planet's health as it struggles in the throes of death is alarming. glad that you found it useful.
This is the best information I have seen to date. Thank you for this important article.
This is so eloquently written. Climategate has grabbed the world's attention, and serves to justify a continuation of bad practice. Personally I feel that we're on the tail end of a global warming cycle that will precede another prolonged cold period much like the Medieval Warm Period and the Little Ice Age that followed it. Our mad, bad, polluting ways are no doubt making a contribution, but I believe that the planet will continue to warm up for a few years yet, even if CO2 emmissions were dramatically cut.
Having said all that, we are living in profligate times. The earth has limited resources and we're gobbling them up with indecent haste. It's time people stopped arguing over who said what in their e-mails, and whether they can cancel out their private business flights by planting a tree or two. If the people that count directed their attention towards solving the looming humanitarian disasters, things might not look quite so bleak. Thanks for posting this important hub.
hello earnest,
thanks for checking in. it's all very disturbing. according to reports from the asian continent, melting glaciers are already resulting in major water battles in the vast asian deltas.
hello amanda,
thanks for visiting! we are a wasteful species indeed. thanks for pointing out the tree planting concept. it's a good one. having done that wherever i've lived, people ask why. still, when visiting some of those old locations, it's nice to see big trees having evolved from a small stick in the ground.
i would love to think you are right about the warming/cooling thing. everywhere i look there's evidence of man's contribution to the problem. outside mexico city, heading south toward puebla, trees on the mountainsides are so sickly looking, after years of a losing battle with that region's air quality.
the glaciers are a prime example. believing for decades that we cannot keep doing what we're doing, that concept was smashed into my skull when standing on glacier grey earlier this year.
politics are inevitable, even in podunk towns with corrupt city councils and p&z committees. that it should play such a significant role in something so critical as global warming is indeed sad.
Have you researched the new findings that global warming is not a cause of human effect but a natural process the earth goes thru, regardless if humans existed or not? While I agree that we need to 'Green' ourselves simply so we have clean water, air and soil I’m not sold on the idea we are the sole cause of global warming. It seems like it could be a financially lucrative endeavor if publicized right and what better way to do so, but through fear. I have a fairly new blog that I did a post on global warming, to get people to debate about it. Feel free to leave any comments, I will be putting a link to this article on my blog so others may read and form their own opinion as well.
hey lilmnstr,
seems like everything comes with a price, or a profit.
seeing glaciers in new zealand (10 years ago they were advancing) and chile has been a real eye opener for me. listening to a dying glacier is not a pretty sound. when it's dying at the rate of 150 meters per year the sound really gets your attention.
i'll go check out your blog.
thanks for stopping by.
this is awesome, explanation and pictures too, Thank you, blue, Maita
hi maita,
it would seem like if we could all agree that there's a problem, then we could all get busy trying to solve it. unfortunately, one plus one equals three for many people.
thanks for stopping in!
Great information - I am amazed that people will still try to argue that humanity is not contibuting to the acceleration of the degradation of nature. There is a kind of madness in this denial. We see so much evidence. And the issue of water is going to be a big one unless we learn, very fast, to share. But of course the increasing scarcity is going to make sharing even less likely, despite the fact that sharing is the only way to make survival possible. And it is that serious. We are not talking here about maybe having to do with less or adjusting our lifestyles a little - we are talking about survival.
By sharing resources we could survive. By not sharing we are guaranteeing our end.
Thanks for sharing this timely warning, and I hope those who write about the "hoax" of climate change and our responsibility for it read this and learn from it.
Love and peace
Tony
Although they are saying now that Kilimanjaro's shrinking ice-cap is not as a result of global warming!
hi tony,
thanks for stopping by. yes, the survival mode you speak of is a frightening reality for us all. sadly, too many are in denial about it. even those of us who aren't in denial will be faced with painful choices in the approaching storm.
hello cindyvine,
i guess the end result will be the same regarding the disappearing glaciers. we can argue all we want about who's fault it is, but that doesn't solve the problem. it's a sad humor to watch as some actually believe humanity is not having a negative impact on the fragile ecosystem. thanks for checking in!
This is the first time im seeing that the Glaciers are rapidly decreasing . Does that mean that the world is gonna end????
Ralph Deeds Level 6 Commenter 2 years ago
Scary. I read recently that Asia may be facing a serious water shortage because the main source of their water is from Himalayan glaciers which are shrinking. This could bring starvation to millions if it continues.