Glaciers melting at fastest rate in 350 years, study finds
Posted: 04 Apr 2011, 06:31
The Independent - 04/04/11
Some mountain glaciers are melting up to 100 times faster than at any time in the past 350 years.
The findings, based on a new ice loss calculation technique developed by studying the glaciers of Patagonia in South America, have worrying implications for crop irrigation and water supplies around the world. The quantity of ice lost from Patagonia is equivalent to a fifth more than the contents of Lake Erie, one of the Great Lakes of North America.
Scientists behind the discovery claim their findings show that the rate of melting at the start of the 20th century was much slower than previously calculated, but that over the past 30 years it has been significantly faster than suspected.
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