No More Glaciers On The Alps By 2050

Jan 24 2007 (TODAY)

VIENNA - Glaciers will all but disappear from the Alps by 2050, scientists
warned yesterday, basing their bleak outlook on mounting evidence of the
slow but steady melting of continental ice sheets.

In western Austria's Alpine province of Tyrol, glaciers have been
shrinking by about 3 per cent a year, meaning their mass decreases
annually by roughly a metre, said Mr Roland Psenner of the University of
Innsbruck's Institute for Ecology. If they keep melting at that rate, most
glaciers could vanish by 2037, said Mr Psenner.

The report comes as world leaders gather in Switzerland for the World
Economic Forum to discuss key concerns such as climate change and global
warming.

In a separate study on 900 waterbird species, scientists noted that
numbers of nearly half of the world's waterbird species are on the decline
due to climate change and economic development.

The worst decreases occurred in Asia where 62 per cent of the waterbird
populations had declined or become extinct. That was followed by a
48-per-cent decline in Africa, 45 per cent in Oceania, 42 per cent in
South America, 41 per cent in Europe and 37 per cent in North America.

- AGENCIES