Top 5 Disappearing Glaciers (Video News)

In today's Planet 100 we count down the top 5 disappearing glaciers.

WATCH VIDEO: Top 5 Disappearing Glaciers

This week a volcano of controversy erupted over the very icy topic of glaciers with critics attacking the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for including an incorrect reference to the disappearance of the Himalayan glaciers by 2035.

Many skeptics claim that this "glacier goof-up" somehow disproves the credibility of the IPCC as a whole and the thousands of scientists it cites in its report. And more significantly they are calling into question the overwhelming accumulation of data that proves that at least 90 percent of the major glaciers in the world are melting... very, very quickly.

Here are just 5 examples of glacial giants that are melting before our eyes.

#5 Himalayas
Home to the planet's largest body of ice outside the polar caps, the Himalayas feed several of the world?s largest rivers, supporting close to a billion people.

In the western region of Himachal Pradesh, new evidence tracks an annual ice thickness loss of nearly 3 feet per year, doubling in the past decade over the decade prior.

Will the Himalayan glaciers disappear this century? Not likely, but Chinese government officials are growing concerned that retreating ice may spell the end of reliable water supplies for China.

Via: Berthier et al (2007) and UNEP

Photo: NASA
Video: WGMI

#4 Greenland

Satellite images of Greenland's Helheim glacier dating back to the 50s shows that this massive glacier has remained intact for decades.

But in 2001 it suddenly began disappearing...rapidly. By 2005 the glacier had retreated a total of 4 ½ miles—at an average rate of 110 feet per day.

Ironically, this has enabled dozens of new oil and gas exploration projects in Greenland as vanishing ice makes room for heavy drilling equipment.

Via: Howat, 2007

Photo: NASA

#3 Mt. Kilimanjaro
Last week a band of celebrities hiked up Mt. Kilimanjaro to raise awareness for the African water crisis.

The famous snowcap formed 11,000 years ago but has diminished more than 85 percent since 1912, and nearby Mt. Kenya has lost nearly ALL of its ice at an average of 1 meter per year, threatening water supplies for millions of people.

Scientists now predict that the last great African glaciers could be gone within 20 years.

Via: CNN

Photos: NASA

#2 Bolivia
At #2 Chacaltaya, once the highest ski resorts on earth has completely vanished in the relative blink of an eye.

A study in 1998 predicted the glacier's disappearance by the year 2015, a claim that at the time was dismissed as overly dramatic. But early last year, it was officially announced that the glacier quote "no longer exists," an event which threatens both water and power supplies in the Andean region.

Melting has tripled in the last decade, and it is expected that several adjoining clusters could have less than 30 years to survive.

Via: Solve Climate

Photos:
Dr. Edson Ramirez, Universidad Mayor de San Andres
Andean Villagers & Scientist ©AP Photo

#1 Glacier National Monument
And #1 is located in Montana, which based on the latest reports, may have to think of a new name for it's famous Glacier National Monument.

Of the 38 square mile area once covered by glaciers, less than 25 percent remains. Researchers believe that by the year 2030, the vast majority of ice in Glacier National Park will be gone unless current climate patterns reverse their course.

Via: USGS

Photos: Glacier National Park & USGS

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Learn more: http://www.grid.unep.ch/glaciers/pdfs/glaciers.pdf