Ice Finding Says Earth Heating Up
Newcastle Herald
Saturday September 16, 2000
NEW YORK: In another indication that the Earth may be warming, an analysis of ice samples drilled from deep inside a glacier shows that the last century has been the hottest period in 1000 years high in the Himalayan mountains.
The new finding supports studies that show a rapid melting of mountain ice fields on three continents and a dramatic decline in levels of some glacier-fed rivers.
`We think this is alarming,' said Ellen Mosley-Thompson, a co-author of a study in the journal Science.
Ms Mosley-Thompson is a member of a team that has analysed ice cores from some of the most remote mountains.
The new cores, cylindrical specimens of ice, came from deep within a glacier 6096 metres up in the Himalayas.
`This is the highest climate record ever retrieved,' Ms Mosley-Thompson said.
`It clearly shows a serious warming during the late 20th century, one that was caused, at least in part, by human activity.'
National Science Foundation earth sciences division director Herman Zimmerman said the latest studies `leave little doubt that the Earth is warming and that all characteristics of our climate can change rapidly.
`This is something that needs to be taken quite seriously by all the peoples of the world,' Mr Zimmerman said.
The National Science Foundation sponsored the 1997 expedition that extracted the Himalayan ice cores.
Ms Mosley-Thompson said the ice cores gave chemical clues of the climatic conditions that existed when the ice was deposited.
The most recent core, from the Dasuopu Glacier, was laid down at least 12,000 years ago.
An analysis of the Dasuopu ice deposited during the last 1000 years shows a dramatic trend of warming.
`The last century has been warmer than the previous nine centuries,' Ms Mosley-Thompson said.
The past decade had been the warmest period on record.
Ms Mosley-Thompson said the mountain warming effect seemed to be worldwide.
`Everywhere we go, we get the same picture of shrinking ice fields and increasing high-altitude warming,' she said.
© 2000 Newcastle Herald