Their research was published on April 6th in the science journal ‘Nature Geoscience’ and titled Projected deglaciation of western Canada in the twenty-first century. As you may expect the term ‘global warming’ plays a prominent role in the study but climate change is not the only culprit.
The dramatic increase in carbon dioxide emissions is largely to blame, they said, but natural factors are part of the equation and there has for decades been a notable increase of melting in climate-cycles.
The study, lead by University of British Columbia researcher, Garry Clarke, found that as much as 70 percent of glacier ice in the provinces of British Columbia and Alberta could be gone by the year 2100.
“According to our simulations, few glaciers will remain in the Interior and Rockies regions, but maritime glaciers, in particular those in northwestern British Columbia, will survive in a diminished state,” the study authors write. “We project the maximum rate of ice volume loss, corresponding to peak input of deglacial meltwater to streams and rivers, to occur around 2020–2040.
The research concludes that such dramatic losses will impact many areas of the environment and will also directly impact humans. “Potential implications include impacts on aquatic ecosystems, agriculture, forestry, alpine tourism and water quality,” the study said.
If you think all of this sounds alarmist, Prof. Clarke told the Washington Post that is not so. “This is a very conservative scenario,” he said. “All the others lead to total loss of ice in the mountains here.”
