{"id":14371,"date":"2019-07-27T22:00:13","date_gmt":"2019-07-28T01:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.glaciareschilenos.org\/?page_id=14371"},"modified":"2024-06-02T22:27:03","modified_gmt":"2024-06-03T01:27:03","slug":"why-are-the-glaciers-melting","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.glaciareschilenos.org\/en\/why-are-the-glaciers-melting\/","title":{"rendered":"Why are the glaciers melting?"},"content":{"rendered":"

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.24.3″ background_image=”https:\/\/glaciareschilenoss3.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/07114127\/76957361_2525262814178078_3089729945811812352_n-1.jpg” background_position=”center_left” background_enable_mask_style=”on” background_mask_style=”triangles” background_mask_transform=”flip_horizontal” global_colors_info=”{}” disabled_on=”on|off|off”][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_3,1_3,1_3″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_button button_url=”https:\/\/www.glaciareschilenos.org\/faq\/” button_text=”PREGUNTAS GLACIARES” button_alignment=”center” _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_button=”on” button_text_size=”20px” button_font=”|700|||||||” button_use_icon=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_button][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.24.3″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.24.3″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_heading title=”Why are the glaciers melting?” _builder_version=”4.24.3″ _module_preset=”default” title_font=”Montserrat|700|||||||” title_text_align=”center” title_text_color=”#424242″ title_font_size=”35px” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_heading][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ _builder_version=”4.24.3″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.24.3″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.24.3″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Montserrat||||||||” background_color=”#FFFFFF” custom_padding=”17px|17px|17px|17px|true|true” border_radii=”on|20px|20px|20px|20px” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n

Glaciers survive, thrive, melt, fragment and disappear, all as result of its mass balance (read about glacier mass balance here<\/a>). Like many things on Earth, the life of a glacier is in fine balance with the local climate. 1) Winter prevails, temperatures are cold and snow falls, some of it forming into glacier ice. 2) Summer arrives, temperatures rise and snow and glacier ice melts away. Repeat. Nearly every glacier on earth melts, it\u2019s part of the cycle of water and balance of the world. Things begin to change when we get a bit too much of 2) and not enough 1).<\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.24.3″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_blurb title=”Figure 1″ image=”https:\/\/glaciareschilenoss3.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/20195740\/Promedio-Temp-Global.png” _builder_version=”4.24.3″ _module_preset=”default” header_font=”Montserrat||||||||” body_font=”Montserrat||||||||” body_font_size=”12px” background_color=”#FFFFFF” custom_padding=”17px|17px|17px|17px|true|true” border_radii=”on|20px|20px|20px|20px” box_shadow_style=”preset1″ global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n

Monthly global surface air temperature anomalies relative to a 1981-2010 reference period. Source: ECMWF. https:\/\/climate.copernicus.eu\/surface-air-temperature-january-2019<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_blurb][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ _builder_version=”4.24.3″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.24.3″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_blurb title=”Figure 2″ image=”https:\/\/glaciareschilenoss3.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/20195821\/Derritiendo-glaciares-2018.png” _builder_version=”4.24.3″ _module_preset=”default” header_font=”Montserrat||||||||” body_font=”Montserrat||||||||” body_font_size=”12px” background_color=”#FFFFFF” custom_padding=”17px|17px|17px|17px|true|true” border_radii=”on|20px|20px|20px|20px” box_shadow_style=”preset1″ global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n

February 2018-January 2019 global surface air temperature anomalies relative to a 1981-2010 reference period. Source: ECMWF. https:\/\/climate.copernicus.eu\/surface-air-temperature-january-2019<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_blurb][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.24.3″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.24.3″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Montserrat||||||||” background_color=”#FFFFFF” custom_padding=”17px|17px|17px|17px|true|true” border_radii=”on|20px|20px|20px|20px” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n

Enter climate change. Air temperature averaged across the globe shows clear evidence of anomalous warming in recent decades compared to a reference period of 1981-2010 (Figure 1).\u00a0 This warming is not consistent and exactly the same across the whole world and shows a lot of regional variation (Figure 2). Nevertheless, the general consensus of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 1<\/sup> is that our planet is warming, and in large part, due to greenhouse emissions of humanity (watch the rising temperature anomalies around the world here<\/a>). Notably two important features of this human-induced climate warming for glaciers are long term mass loss (mostly melting) and occurrence of extreme events.<\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ _builder_version=”4.24.3″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.24.3″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.24.3″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Montserrat||||||||” background_color=”#FFFFFF” custom_padding=”17px|17px|17px|17px|true|true” border_radii=”on|20px|20px|20px|20px” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n

Considering the first point. Long term changes in glacier mass (the amount of ice of earth) is undoubtedly shrinking (Figure 3). Reference glaciers (those with long records of observations of change) of western USA, Canada and Europe show the largest reduction of ice, though evidence from the Andes is also bad news 2<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

Within the central Andes of Chile, remarkably strong autumn warming of ~0.5 \u00b0C\/decade is found in combination with decreases in precipitation 3<\/sup>. Equally precipitation falling in the mountains under a warmer climate is more likely to fall as rain and not snow, as has been seen in other parts of the world<\/a>. Therefore climate change can potentially have a double-negative effect upon the health of glaciers, especially in regions, such as central Chile, that are sensitive to amount of rain falling seasonally.<\/p>\n

Equally, the climate change has seen a rise in extreme events. Drought, heatwaves, hurricanes, to name a few\u2026<\/p>\n

The start of 2019 saw just this is South America (Figure 4) when Santiago\u2019s record temperature rose to 38.3 \u00b0C and many parts of Patagonia saw temperatures in the high 30\u2019s. These kind of events are equally likely to cause large scale, rapid icemelt which may also make hazards like glacier lake outburst floods<\/a> 4,5<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.24.3″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_blurb title=”Figure 3″ image=”https:\/\/glaciareschilenoss3.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/20195755\/Glaciares-derritiendo.png” _builder_version=”4.24.3″ _module_preset=”default” header_font=”Montserrat||||||||” body_font=”Montserrat||||||||” body_font_size=”12px” background_color=”#FFFFFF” custom_padding=”17px|17px|17px|17px|true|true” border_radii=”on|20px|20px|20px|20px” box_shadow_style=”preset1″ global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n

Cumulative mass change (m w.e.) relative to 1976. The mass balance estimates considered here are based on a set of global reference glaciers with more than 30 continued observation years<\/a> for the time-period, which are compiled by the World Glacier Monitoring Service (WGMS) in annual calls-for-data from a scientific collaboration network in more than 40 countries worldwide.<\/em><\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_blurb][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_4,1_2,1_4″ _builder_version=”4.24.3″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_4″ _builder_version=”4.24.3″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.24.3″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_blurb title=”Figure 4″ image=”https:\/\/glaciareschilenoss3.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/20195809\/Glaciares-Chile-2019.png” _builder_version=”4.24.3″ _module_preset=”default” header_font=”Montserrat||||||||” body_font=”Montserrat||||||||” body_font_size=”12px” background_color=”#FFFFFF” custom_padding=”17px|17px|17px|17px|true|true” border_radii=”on|20px|20px|20px|20px” box_shadow_style=”preset1″ global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n

Extreme climatic events of early 2019 in South America. Source: MeteoChile Blog.<\/em><\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_blurb][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_4″ _builder_version=”4.24.3″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.24.3″ background_color=”#FFFFFF” custom_padding=”|35px||35px|false|true” border_radii=”on|20px|20px|20px|20px” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.24.3″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Montserrat||||||||” text_font_size=”12px” text_line_height=”1.6em” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n

Cited information:<\/strong><\/h6>\n
\n

1<\/sup> IPCC, 2014: Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change<\/i> [Core Writing Team, R.K. Pachauri and L.A. Meyer (eds.)]. IPCC, Geneva, Switzerland, 151 pp.
2<\/sup> WGMS (2017, updated, and earlier reports): Global Glacier Change Bulletin No. 2 (2014-2015). Zemp, M., Nussbaumer, S. U., G\u00e4rtner-Roer, I., Huber, J., Machguth, H., Paul, F., and Hoelzle, M. (eds.), ICSU(WDS)\/IUGG(IACS)\/UNEP\/UNESCO\/WMO, World Glacier Monitoring Service, Zurich, Switzerland, 244 pp., based on database version: doi:10.5904\/wgms-fog-2018-11. Available at: https:\/\/wgms.ch\/faqs\/<\/a>
3<\/sup> Burger, F., Brock, B., & Montecinos, A. (2017). Seasonal and elevational contrasts in temperature and precipitation trends in Central Chile 30-35\u00b0 S between 1979 and 2015. Global and Planetary Change.\u00a0 162. pp. 136-147. ISSN 0921-8181
4<\/sup> Glaciers and climate change: Interview with Gino Casassa. Patagon Journal – 09 March 2018 Available at: http:\/\/www.patagonjournal.com\/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4062%3Aglaciers-and-climate-change-interview-with-gino-casassa&catid=78%3Amedioambiente&Itemid=268&lang=en<\/a>
5<\/sup> R. Wilson, S. Harrison, J. Reynolds, A. Hubbard, N.F. Glasser, O. W\u00fcndrich, P. Iribarren Anacona, L. Mao, S. Shannon (2019) The 2015 Chileno Valley glacial lake outburst flood, Patagonia. Geomorphology<\/i>. 332.51-65.https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.geomorph.2019.01.015.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

Written by Thomas Shaw.<\/em>
Edited by Equipo Glaciar.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Why are the glaciers melting?<\/b><\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

Glaciers survive, thrive, melt, fragment and disappear, all as result of its mass balance (read about glacier mass balance here<\/a>). Like many things on Earth, the life of a glacier is in fine balance with the local climate. 1) Winter prevails, temperatures are cold and snow falls, some of it forming into glacier ice. 2) Summer arrives, temperatures rise and snow and glacier ice melts away. Repeat. Nearly every glacier on earth melts, it\u2019s part of the cycle of water and balance of the world. Things begin to change when we get a bit too much of 2) and not enough 1).<\/p>\n

Enter climate change. Air temperature averaged across the globe shows clear evidence of anomalous warming in recent decades compared to a reference period of 1981-2010 (Figure 1).\u00a0 This warming is not consistent and exactly the same across the whole world and shows a lot of regional variation (Figure 2). Nevertheless, the general consensus of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 1<\/sup> is that our planet is warming, and in large part, due to greenhouse emissions of humanity (watch the rising temperature anomalies around the world here<\/a>). Notably two important features of this human-induced climate warming for glaciers are long term mass loss (mostly melting) and occurrence of extreme events.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Figure 1. Monthly global surface air temperature anomalies relative to a 1981-2010 reference period. Source: ECMWF. https:\/\/climate.copernicus.eu\/surface-air-temperature-january-2019<\/a><\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"

Figure 2. February 2018-January 2019 global surface air temperature anomalies relative to a 1981-2010 reference period. Source: ECMWF. https:\/\/climate.copernicus.eu\/surface-air-temperature-january-2019<\/a><\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Considering the first point. Long term changes in glacier mass (the amount of ice of earth) is undoubtedly shrinking (Figure 3). Reference glaciers (those with long records of observations of change) of western USA, Canada and Europe show the largest reduction of ice, though evidence from the Andes is also bad news 2<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Figure 3. Cumulative mass change (m w.e.) relative to 1976. The mass balance estimates considered here are based on a set of global reference glaciers with more than 30 continued observation years<\/a> for the time-period, which are compiled by the World Glacier Monitoring Service (WGMS) in annual calls-for-data from a scientific collaboration network in more than 40 countries worldwide.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Within the central Andes of Chile, remarkably strong autumn warming of ~0.5 \u00b0C\/decade is found in combination with decreases in precipitation 3<\/sup>. Equally precipitation falling in the mountains under a warmer climate is more likely to fall as rain and not snow, as has been seen in other parts of the world<\/a>. Therefore climate change can potentially have a double-negative effect upon the health of glaciers, especially in regions, such as central Chile, that are sensitive to amount of rain falling seasonally.<\/p>\n

Equally, the climate change has seen a rise in extreme events. Drought, heatwaves, hurricanes, to name a few\u2026<\/p>\n

The start of 2019 saw just this is South America (Figure 4) when Santiago\u2019s record temperature rose to 38.3 \u00b0C and many parts of Patagonia saw temperatures in the high 30\u2019s. These kind of events are equally likely to cause large scale, rapid icemelt which may also make hazards like glacier lake outburst floods<\/a> 4,5<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Figure 4. Extreme climatic events of early 2019 in South America. Source: MeteoChile Blog.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Cited information:<\/p>\n

1<\/sup> IPCC, 2014: Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change<\/i> [Core Writing Team, R.K. Pachauri and L.A. Meyer (eds.)]. IPCC, Geneva, Switzerland, 151 pp.
2<\/sup> WGMS (2017, updated, and earlier reports): Global Glacier Change Bulletin No. 2 (2014-2015). Zemp, M., Nussbaumer, S. U., G\u00e4rtner-Roer, I., Huber, J., Machguth, H., Paul, F., and Hoelzle, M. (eds.), ICSU(WDS)\/IUGG(IACS)\/UNEP\/UNESCO\/WMO, World Glacier Monitoring Service, Zurich, Switzerland, 244 pp., based on database version: doi:10.5904\/wgms-fog-2018-11. Available at: https:\/\/wgms.ch\/faqs\/<\/a>
3<\/sup> Burger, F., Brock, B., & Montecinos, A. (2017). Seasonal and elevational contrasts in temperature and precipitation trends in Central Chile 30-35\u00b0 S between 1979 and 2015. Global and Planetary Change.\u00a0 162. pp. 136-147. ISSN 0921-8181
4<\/sup> Glaciers and climate change: Interview with Gino Casassa. Patagon Journal – 09 March 2018 Available at: http:\/\/www.patagonjournal.com\/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4062%3Aglaciers-and-climate-change-interview-with-gino-casassa&catid=78%3Amedioambiente&Itemid=268&lang=en<\/a>
5<\/sup> R. Wilson, S. Harrison, J. Reynolds, A. Hubbard, N.F. Glasser, O. W\u00fcndrich, P. Iribarren Anacona, L. Mao, S. Shannon (2019) The 2015 Chileno Valley glacial lake outburst flood, Patagonia. Geomorphology<\/i>. 332.51-65.https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.geomorph.2019.01.015.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Written by Thomas Shaw.<\/em>
Edited by Equipo Glaciar.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Glaciers survive, thrive, melt, fragment and disappear, all as result of its mass balance (read about glacier mass balance here). Like many things on Earth, the life of a glacier is in fine balance with the local climate. 1) Winter prevails, temperatures are cold and snow falls, some of it forming into glacier ice. 2) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"googlesitekit_rrm_CAow57LVCw:productID":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"

[et_pb_section fb_built=\"1\" _builder_version=\"4.16\" global_colors_info=\"{}\"][et_pb_row column_structure=\"1_3,1_3,1_3\" _builder_version=\"4.16\" global_colors_info=\"{}\"][et_pb_column type=\"1_3\" _builder_version=\"4.16\" global_colors_info=\"{}\"][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=\"1_3\" _builder_version=\"4.16\" global_colors_info=\"{}\"][et_pb_button button_url=\"https:\/\/www.glaciareschilenos.org\/faq\/\" button_text=\"PREGUNTAS GLACIARES\" button_alignment=\"center\" _builder_version=\"4.16\" custom_button=\"on\" button_text_size=\"20px\" button_font=\"|700|||||||\" button_use_icon=\"off\" global_colors_info=\"{}\"][\/et_pb_button][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=\"1_3\" _builder_version=\"4.16\" global_colors_info=\"{}\"][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=\"4.16\" global_colors_info=\"{}\"][et_pb_column type=\"4_4\" _builder_version=\"4.16\" global_colors_info=\"{}\"][et_pb_tabs _builder_version=\"4.16\" global_colors_info=\"{}\"][et_pb_tab title=\"Espa\u00f1ol\" _builder_version=\"4.16\" global_colors_info=\"{}\"]<\/p>

\u00bfPor qu\u00e9 los glaciares se est\u00e1n derritiendo?<\/strong><\/h2>

\u00a0<\/p>

Los glaciares sobreviven, prosperan, se funden, se fragmentan y desaparecen, todo como resultado de su balance de masa (lea aqu\u00ed<\/a> sobre el balance de masa de glaciares). Como muchas otras cosas en la Tierra, la vida de un glaciar est\u00e1 en un buen equilibrio con el clima local. 1) El invierno prevalece, las temperaturas son fr\u00edas y la nieve cae, y parte del hielo se convierte en hielo glaciar. 2) Llega el verano, las temperaturas aumentan y la nieve y el hielo del glaciar se derriten. Repetir. Casi todos los glaciares de la tierra se derriten, es parte del ciclo del agua y el equilibrio del mundo. Las cosas comienzan a cambiar cuando obtenemos un poco demasiado de 2) y no lo suficiente 1).<\/p>

Entra el cambio clim\u00e1tico. La temperatura del aire promediada en todo el mundo muestra una clara evidencia de calentamiento an\u00f3malo en las \u00faltimas d\u00e9cadas, en comparaci\u00f3n con un per\u00edodo de referencia de 1981-2010 (Figura 1). Este calentamiento no es consistente y exactamente igual en todo el mundo y muestra una gran variaci\u00f3n regional (Figura 2). Sin embargo, el consenso general del Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change<\/em> (IPCC) 1<\/sup> es que nuestro planeta se est\u00e1 calentando, y en gran parte, debido a las emisiones de efecto invernadero de la humanidad (mira las crecientes anomal\u00edas de la temperatura en todo el mundo aqu\u00ed<\/a>). Cabe destacar que dos efectos importantes de este calentamiento clim\u00e1tico inducido por la humanidad sobre los glaciares son la p\u00e9rdida de masa a largo plazo (principalmente el derretimiento) y la ocurrencia de eventos extremos.<\/p>[caption id=\"attachment_3211\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"596\"]\"\" Figura 1. Anomal\u00edas mensuales de la temperatura global del aire en la superficie en relaci\u00f3n con un per\u00edodo de referencia 1981-2010. Fuente: ECMWF. https:\/\/climate.copernicus.eu\/surface-air-temperature-january-2019<\/a><\/em>[\/caption]

\u00a0<\/p>[caption id=\"attachment_3210\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"596\"]\"\" Figura 2. Febrero de 2018 a enero de 2019, anomal\u00edas globales de la temperatura del aire en la superficie en relaci\u00f3n con un per\u00edodo de referencia 1981-2010. Fuente: ECMWF. https:\/\/climate.copernicus.eu\/surface-air-temperature-january-2019<\/a><\/em>[\/caption]

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Teniendo en cuenta el primer punto, sin duda los cambios a largo plazo en la masas de los glaciares (la cantidad de hielo en la Tierra) es que se est\u00e1n reduciendo (Figura 3). Los glaciares de referencia (aquellos con largos registros de observaciones de cambio) del oeste de EE.UU., Canad\u00e1 y Europa muestran la mayor reducci\u00f3n de hielo, aunque la evidencia en los Andes tambi\u00e9n es mala 2<\/sup>.<\/p>[caption id=\"attachment_3209\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"533\"]\"\" Figura 3. Cambio de masa acumulativa (m eq. a.) en relaci\u00f3n con 1976. Las estimaciones de balance de masa consideradas aqu\u00ed se basan en un conjunto de glaciares de referencia global con m\u00e1s de 30 a\u00f1os de observaci\u00f3n continua<\/a> para el per\u00edodo, que se recopilan por el Servicio Mundial de Monitoreo de Glaciares (WGMS, por sus siglas en ingl\u00e9s) en las solicitudes anuales de datos de una red de colaboraci\u00f3n cient\u00edfica en m\u00e1s de 40 pa\u00edses en todo el mundo.<\/em>[\/caption]

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Dentro de los Andes centrales de Chile, se observa un fuerte calentamiento en oto\u00f1o de ~0,5 \u00b0C\/d\u00e9cada en combinaci\u00f3n con la disminuci\u00f3n de la precipitaci\u00f3n 3<\/sup>. Igualmente, la precipitaci\u00f3n que cae en las monta\u00f1as bajo un clima m\u00e1s c\u00e1lido es m\u00e1s probable que caiga como lluvia y no nieve, como se ha visto en otras partes del mundo<\/a>. Por lo tanto, el cambio clim\u00e1tico puede tener un doble efecto negativo en la salud de los glaciares, especialmente en regiones que son sensibles a la cantidad de lluvia que cae estacionalmente, como Chile central.<\/p>

Igualmente, el cambio clim\u00e1tico ha visto un aumento en los eventos extremos. Sequ\u00eda, olas de calor, huracanes, por nombrar algunos...<\/p>

Al inicio de 2019 se vio justo esto en Sudam\u00e9rica (Figura 4), cuando la temperatura r\u00e9cord de Santiago se elev\u00f3 a 38,3 \u00b0C y muchas partes de la Patagonia vieron temperaturas sobre los 30 grados. Este tipo de eventos es igualmente propenso a causar un deshielo r\u00e1pido a gran escala, lo que tambi\u00e9n puede provocar peligros como las inundaciones de los lagos glaciares, o \"glacier lake outburst floods<\/em><\/a>\" 4,5<\/sup> en ingl\u00e9s.<\/p>[caption id=\"attachment_3212\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"486\"]\"\" Figura 4. Eventos clim\u00e1ticos extremos de principios de 2019 en Am\u00e9rica del Sur. Fuente: MeteoChile Blog.<\/em>[\/caption]

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Informaci\u00f3n citada:<\/p>

1<\/sup> IPCC, 2014: Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change<\/i> [Core Writing Team, R.K. Pachauri and L.A. Meyer (eds.)]. IPCC, Geneva, Switzerland, 151 pp.
2<\/sup> WGMS (2017, updated, and earlier reports): Global Glacier Change Bulletin No. 2 (2014-2015). Zemp, M., Nussbaumer, S. U., G\u00e4rtner-Roer, I., Huber, J., Machguth, H., Paul, F., and Hoelzle, M. (eds.), ICSU(WDS)\/IUGG(IACS)\/UNEP\/UNESCO\/WMO, World Glacier Monitoring Service, Zurich, Switzerland, 244 pp., based on database version: doi:10.5904\/wgms-fog-2018-11. Available at: https:\/\/wgms.ch\/faqs\/<\/a>
3<\/sup> Burger, F., Brock, B., & Montecinos, A. (2017). Seasonal and elevational contrasts in temperature and precipitation trends in Central Chile 30-35\u00b0 S between 1979 and 2015. Global and Planetary Change.\u00a0 162. pp. 136-147. ISSN 0921-8181
4<\/sup> Glaciers and climate change: Interview with Gino Casassa. Patagon Journal - 09 March 2018 Available at: http:\/\/www.patagonjournal.com\/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4062%3Aglaciers-and-climate-change-interview-with-gino-casassa&catid=78%3Amedioambiente&Itemid=268&lang=en<\/a>
5<\/sup> R. Wilson, S. Harrison, J. Reynolds, A. Hubbard, N.F. Glasser, O. W\u00fcndrich, P. Iribarren Anacona, L. Mao, S. Shannon (2019) The 2015 Chileno Valley glacial lake outburst flood, Patagonia. Geomorphology<\/i>. 332.51-65.https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.geomorph.2019.01.015.<\/p>

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Escrito por Thomas Shaw.<\/em>
Editado por Equipo Glaciar.<\/em><\/p>

[\/et_pb_tab][et_pb_tab title=\"English\" _builder_version=\"4.16\" global_colors_info=\"{}\"]<\/p>

Why are the glaciers melting?<\/b><\/h2>

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Glaciers survive, thrive, melt, fragment and disappear, all as result of its mass balance (read about glacier mass balance here<\/a>). Like many things on Earth, the life of a glacier is in fine balance with the local climate. 1) Winter prevails, temperatures are cold and snow falls, some of it forming into glacier ice. 2) Summer arrives, temperatures rise and snow and glacier ice melts away. Repeat. Nearly every glacier on earth melts, it\u2019s part of the cycle of water and balance of the world. Things begin to change when we get a bit too much of 2) and not enough 1).<\/p>

Enter climate change. Air temperature averaged across the globe shows clear evidence of anomalous warming in recent decades compared to a reference period of 1981-2010 (Figure 1).\u00a0 This warming is not consistent and exactly the same across the whole world and shows a lot of regional variation (Figure 2). Nevertheless, the general consensus of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 1<\/sup> is that our planet is warming, and in large part, due to greenhouse emissions of humanity (watch the rising temperature anomalies around the world here<\/a>). Notably two important features of this human-induced climate warming for glaciers are long term mass loss (mostly melting) and occurrence of extreme events.<\/p>[caption id=\"attachment_3211\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"596\"]\"\" Figure 1. Monthly global surface air temperature anomalies relative to a 1981-2010 reference period. Source: ECMWF. https:\/\/climate.copernicus.eu\/surface-air-temperature-january-2019<\/a><\/em>[\/caption]

\u00a0<\/p>[caption id=\"attachment_3210\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"596\"]\"\" Figure 2. February 2018-January 2019 global surface air temperature anomalies relative to a 1981-2010 reference period. Source: ECMWF. https:\/\/climate.copernicus.eu\/surface-air-temperature-january-2019<\/a><\/em>[\/caption]

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Considering the first point. Long term changes in glacier mass (the amount of ice of earth) is undoubtedly shrinking (Figure 3). Reference glaciers (those with long records of observations of change) of western USA, Canada and Europe show the largest reduction of ice, though evidence from the Andes is also bad news 2<\/sup>.<\/p>[caption id=\"attachment_3209\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"533\"]\"\" Figure 3. Cumulative mass change (m w.e.) relative to 1976. The mass balance estimates considered here are based on a set of global reference glaciers with more than 30 continued observation years<\/a> for the time-period, which are compiled by the World Glacier Monitoring Service (WGMS) in annual calls-for-data from a scientific collaboration network in more than 40 countries worldwide.<\/em>[\/caption]

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Within the central Andes of Chile, remarkably strong autumn warming of ~0.5 \u00b0C\/decade is found in combination with decreases in precipitation 3<\/sup>. Equally precipitation falling in the mountains under a warmer climate is more likely to fall as rain and not snow, as has been seen in other parts of the world<\/a>. Therefore climate change can potentially have a double-negative effect upon the health of glaciers, especially in regions, such as central Chile, that are sensitive to amount of rain falling seasonally.<\/p>

Equally, the climate change has seen a rise in extreme events. Drought, heatwaves, hurricanes, to name a few\u2026<\/p>

The start of 2019 saw just this is South America (Figure 4) when Santiago\u2019s record temperature rose to 38.3 \u00b0C and many parts of Patagonia saw temperatures in the high 30\u2019s. These kind of events are equally likely to cause large scale, rapid icemelt which may also make hazards like glacier lake outburst floods<\/a> 4,5<\/sup>.<\/p>[caption id=\"attachment_3212\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"486\"]\"\" Figure 4. Extreme climatic events of early 2019 in South America. Source: MeteoChile Blog.<\/em>[\/caption]

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Cited information:<\/p>

1<\/sup> IPCC, 2014: Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change<\/i> [Core Writing Team, R.K. Pachauri and L.A. Meyer (eds.)]. IPCC, Geneva, Switzerland, 151 pp.
2<\/sup> WGMS (2017, updated, and earlier reports): Global Glacier Change Bulletin No. 2 (2014-2015). Zemp, M., Nussbaumer, S. U., G\u00e4rtner-Roer, I., Huber, J., Machguth, H., Paul, F., and Hoelzle, M. (eds.), ICSU(WDS)\/IUGG(IACS)\/UNEP\/UNESCO\/WMO, World Glacier Monitoring Service, Zurich, Switzerland, 244 pp., based on database version: doi:10.5904\/wgms-fog-2018-11. Available at: https:\/\/wgms.ch\/faqs\/<\/a>
3<\/sup> Burger, F., Brock, B., & Montecinos, A. (2017). Seasonal and elevational contrasts in temperature and precipitation trends in Central Chile 30-35\u00b0 S between 1979 and 2015. Global and Planetary Change.\u00a0 162. pp. 136-147. ISSN 0921-8181
4<\/sup> Glaciers and climate change: Interview with Gino Casassa. Patagon Journal - 09 March 2018 Available at: http:\/\/www.patagonjournal.com\/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4062%3Aglaciers-and-climate-change-interview-with-gino-casassa&catid=78%3Amedioambiente&Itemid=268&lang=en<\/a>
5<\/sup> R. Wilson, S. Harrison, J. Reynolds, A. Hubbard, N.F. Glasser, O. W\u00fcndrich, P. Iribarren Anacona, L. Mao, S. Shannon (2019) The 2015 Chileno Valley glacial lake outburst flood, Patagonia. Geomorphology<\/i>. 332.51-65.https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.geomorph.2019.01.015.<\/p>

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Written by Thomas Shaw.<\/em>
Edited by Equipo Glaciar.<\/em><\/p>

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