New research suggests that the great rivers of Europe that rise in the Alps may change from being permanently swollen in summer to being dried up, when global warming finally finishes off the ancient mountain ice fields in 20 to 30 years' time.

A report from Salford University shows that the present combination of warmer summers and drier winters means there is less snow to feed the glaciers, and that the vast bank of ice on the mountain tops is disappearing.

"The ice is like money in the bank, researcher David Collins claimed, "if you keep drawing more than you put in, eventually it runs out."

This summer flows of the rivers fed from the Alps, including the Rhine, Rhone, Po and Inn, which feeds the Danube, were higher than they had been for centuries. This was mainly due to melt water from the mountains, flowing in greater amounts as the summers warmed.

"Some of the glaciers - for example, Gornergrat in Zermatt - are now below the snow line in summer. This means they are doomed. The ice they are made of was laid down in snowfall two or three centuries ago and is melting away faster each year."

Prof Collins said the reduction in the glaciers in the Alps had been matched by an increase in glacier size in the Jotunheimen range in Norway because increased precipitation in northern Europe, in this case falling as snow, had blanketed the glaciers and protected them from any temperature increase. This had led to a net increase in the size of glaciers over the same period as those in the Alps were retreating.

The team is part of a world wide study of global warming and changing rainfall patterns on mountain ranges.

[Story from The Guardian]

Related Articles on Natives:

Global Warming to shorten season
Global warming more significant in Alps

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