Glaciers and Global Warming

I've been glacier hunting again. Whilst in France last month, I spent some time in the Alpine mountains exploring the Chamonix Valley. The area is well known as a summer and winter tourist honeypot, attracting ski and snow board enthusiasts all winter and walkers / campers all summer. For me, the excitement comes from the mountains and the glaciers and being able to get in touch with real geography.

What surprised me most was discovering how much the glaciers have retreated in the fifteen years since I was last there. Locations where I remembered ice were now bare rock, and where I previously walked on glaciers there were now moraine fields left by retreating glaciers. The glaciers certainly aren't gone, but the amount of retreat was startling.

We read about global warming and, in some way, the warming up of the planet seems to be in the news every week, ( for example the melting of Siberian permafrost ) but we rarely get to actually see the consequences for ourselves. Seeing the barren rock around the snout and edges of the glaciers really brought it home to me; global warming, whatever the causes, is here and it is having a profound effect.

To learn more about glaciers and global warming follow this link.