Rapid disintegration of Alpine glaciers observed with satellite data

Analyses of multispectral satellite data indicate accelerated glacier decline around the globe since the 1980s. By using digitized glacier outlines inferred from the 1973 inventory and Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) satellite data from 1985 to 1999, we obtained area changes of about 930 Alpine glaciers. The 18% area reduction as observed for the period 1985 to 1999 (−1.3% a⁻¹) corresponds to a seven times higher loss rate compared to the 1850–1973 decadal mean. Extrapolation of area change rates and cumulative mass balances to all Alpine glaciers yields a corresponding volume loss of about 25 km³ since 1973. Highly individual and non-uniform changes in glacier geometry (disintegration) indicate a massive down-wasting rather than a dynamic response to a changed climate. Our results imply stronger ongoing glacier retreat than assumed so far and a probable further enhancement of glacier disintegration by positive feedbacks.

[1]  Masamu Aniya,et al.  The use of satellite and airborne imagery to inventory outlet glaciers of the Southern Patagonia Icefield, South America , 1996 .

[2]  Dorothy K. Hall,et al.  Observations on glaciers in the eastern Austrian Alps using satellite data , 1994 .

[3]  Lennart Bengtsson,et al.  Recent Glacier Retreat Exceeds Internal Variability , 2002 .

[4]  Eric Rignot,et al.  Contribution of the Patagonia Icefields of South America to Sea Level Rise , 2003, Science.

[5]  Frank Paul,et al.  The new Swiss glacier inventory 2000 : application of remote sensing and GIS , 2003 .

[6]  Martin Beniston,et al.  Climate change and its impacts on glaciers and permafrost in the Alps , 1998 .

[7]  F. Paul,et al.  Changes in glacier area in Tyrol, Austria, between 1969 and 1992 derived from Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper and Austrian Glacier Inventory data , 2002 .

[8]  Jeffrey S. Kargel,et al.  New eyes in the sky measure glaciers and ice sheets , 2000 .

[9]  M. Hoelzle,et al.  On Rates and Acceleration Trends of Global Glacier Mass Changes , 1999 .

[10]  Roger G. Barry,et al.  Glacier monitoring within the Global Climate Observing System* , 2000, Annals of Glaciology.

[11]  Andreas Kääb,et al.  The new remote-sensing-derived Swiss glacier inventory: I. Methods , 2002, Annals of Glaciology.

[12]  M. Noguer,et al.  Climate change 2001: The scientific basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Third Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change , 2002 .

[13]  M. Hoelzle,et al.  Application of inventory data for estimating characteristics of and regional climate-change effects on mountain glaciers: a pilot study with the European Alps , 1995, Annals of Glaciology.

[14]  T. Albert,et al.  Evaluation of Remote Sensing Techniques for Ice-Area Classification Applied to the Tropical Quelccaya Ice Cap, Peru , 2002 .

[15]  M. Wild,et al.  Modelling the response of glaciers to climate change by applying volume-area scaling in combination with a high resolution GCM , 2001 .

[16]  M. Meier,et al.  Twentieth century climate change: evidence from small glaciers. , 2000, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[17]  A. Arendt,et al.  Rapid Wastage of Alaska Glaciers and Their Contribution to Rising Sea Level , 2002, Science.

[18]  F. Paul.  Combined technologies allow rapid analysis of glacier changes , 2002 .

[19]  G. Müller,et al.  Firn und Eis der Schweizer Alpen : Gletscherinventar , 1976 .

[20]  Alvin Simms,et al.  Recession of the southern part of Barnes Ice Cap, Baffin Island, Canada, between 1961 and 1993, determined from digital mapping of Landsat TM , 1997 .

[21]  M. Dyurgerov.  Glacier mass balance and regime: data of measurement and analysis , 2002 .

[22]  J. Oerlemans.  Quantifying Global Warming from the Retreat of Glaciers , 1994, Science.

[23]  S. Raper,et al.  Glaciers and their contribution to sea level change , 2002 .

[24]  D. Bahr.  Global distributions of glacier properties: A stochastic scaling paradigm , 1997 .

[25]  Jeffrey S. Kargel,et al.  Global Land Ice Measurements from Space (GLIMS): Remote Sensing and GIS Investigations of the Earth's Cryosphere , 2004 .

[26]  R. W. Sidjak.  Glacier mapping of the Illecillewaet icefield, British Columbia, Canada, using Landsat TM and digital elevation data , 1999 .

[27]  Roger G. Barry,et al.  Late‐twentieth century changes in glacier extent in the Ak‐shirak Range, Central Asia, determined from historical data and ASTER imagery , 2003 .

[28]  M. Meier,et al.  Mass balance of mountain and subpolar glaciers: a new global assessment , 1997 .