Glacial Retreat 

      A glacier is a body of snow and ice that moves. They respond the precipitation and temperature so temperature and precipitation is the most important parameters to study climate change. They are the most visible indicators of climate change and the climate controls the glaciers behavior. They respond in terms of glacial length, mass balance and runoff. These are the direct indicators of the change in climate. The indirect changes include the advance and retreat of the glacier but is still a good signal for climate change. Climate change causes a variation in the amount of snow and ice lost by melting. 

     The Himalayas are the youngest and the highest mountains in the world and have the largest concentration of glaciers outside the polar caps. The glaciers feed the rivers of Asia and play a very large role in the metro logical condition in India. It has been confirmed that the northwest Himalayan region has warmed up at a much faster rate than the global average with a rise of 1.6 degrees Celsius from 1901-2002. Also there has been a decreasing trend in snowfall from 1989-2008. this will impact the amount of water that the glaciers will release to the rivers which in many parts of Asia is the main water source and this will lead to the ruin of crops and cattle. Agriculture that is effected by the water loss will have a negative impact on the economy.
     In Antarctic Marine sediment cores show that ice shelves probably have not reached a similar minimum in at least 10,000 years. Climate change will have many other impacts on Antarctica. The retreat of coastal ice and loss of snow cover would result in newly exposed rock and permafrost providing new habitats for colonization by expanding and invading flora and fauna. But this might lead to invasion of non native species especially if introduced by human and could kill native species. There have been changes in all parts in the marine ecosystem in the west of the arctic peninsula. The reduced sea ice cover has created an imbalance in the population of krill and salps, the main eater of plankton. This will effect larger species like seals, penguins and whales whose populations have already declined a lot. This also effects the CO2 secretion in the southern ocean. Because of the loss in the population in large species there will be higher competition for fishermen to make money and could eventually lose their jobs.
    Glacier National Park will be deeply effected by the loss of glaciers. The mountain snow packs hold less water and glacier water acts as a water bank by storing water and feeding creeks and rivers through out the dry season but snow fall melts faster and so the ice melts two weeks earlier in the spring. This impact the regions water supplies, wildlife, agriculture and fire management. There will be a loss in alpine meadows and will put high elevation species at risk of diminishing. With less water from the glaciers and the higher temperatures there will be higher risks of forest fires and will have a very negative impact on the tourism and could impact the regional air quality and increase the number of hot days. 

  The Impact on Tourism

  Glacial retreat will have a bad impact on tourism in places with glaciers. In Glacier National Park tourism brings in 1 billion dollars annually because people want to see the glaciers and even if there is no glacier in that spot people can see what the glaciers make like snow caped mountains, waterfalls, lakes, wildflowers, alpine meadows, wildlife and the turquoise colour in Crater lake. But the blue in the lake is quickly fading because the colour is made by "glacier flour" which is finely ground rock powder made by glacier movements. But if the glaciers are completely gone so will the colour. A survey was given to tourists based on if they would visit if glacier park looked like it will in a century and 20% said that they would not visit at all and 40% said they would visit less often. In 2003 when wild fires burned across 10% of the glacier visitation fell by half and in august alone 258000 fewer people visited then in previous years. Overall, tourism will be greatly impacted in areas with glaciers because tourist what to see glaciers and what they make but when they are gone so are the tourists.


     Glaciers in Mexico are melting fast. It is estimated that the glaciers of Iztaccihuatl, Orizaba's peak and Popocatepetl will disappear in the next 10 to 35 years and the glaciers are melting faster then they were predicted to.