The life and death of mountain glaciers
What does the future hold for these critically important formations?
Mountain glaciers are not only beautiful and inspiring landscape formations, but critically important water resources and foundations of cultural practices all around the world. This month EGU’s Committee Programmes Co-ordinator Simon Clark spoke with glaciologist Harry Zekollari about the multi-faceted role that glaciers play in our world, from their obvious place as vital water resources, to the interactions they can have with natural hazards, and their critical role in the economies of many regions. You can watch the full webinar here.
We also heard from Cryospheric Sciences Division Early Career Scientist blogger Larissa van der Laan about her work as a glaciologist and science artist, about why it’s important to keep studying the way that glaciers change and adapt as our climate changes. “When we can say with confidence how glaciers formerly responded to certain shifts in climate, this knowledge can be applied to the prediction of glacier states under future climate scenarios,” she explained. “The situations we might have to prepare for, we haven’t yet seen in our lifetime, but we can imagine and predict them from the past.”
Finally, as it’s the festive winter season here in Europe, you might be looking for gifts for that special geoscientist in your life, so don’t forget to pop in on EGU’s Top 5 gifts for geoscientists (2021 edition)! and find that perfect geo themed present, as recommended by the staff in the EGU Office!
We wish you all a wonderful end to 2021, however you are celebrating, and look forward to seeing you all in the new year! |
