As the surface of Earth warms, it should come as no surprise that the rate of melt likely of many glaciers is increasing.
the latest research looked at some glaciers in western Canada and the US and Switzerland.
the following is the start of a report on the research by CBC, Canada's public news and information service, published on June 25 and now running on Google News.
CANADA's CBC:
"Western Canadian glaciers melting twice as fast as they did a decade ago, research shows"
"Researchers say some glaciers in Western Canada and the United States lost 12 per cent of their mass from 2021 to 2024, doubling melt rates compared to the previous decade.
"The research led by University of Northern British Columbia professor Brian Menounos says low snow accumulation over winter, early-season heat waves, and prolonged warm and dry spells were contributing factors.
"It says impurities such as ash from severe wildfire seasons have also "darkened" glaciers, causing them to absorb more heat and triggering a feedback loop that will lead to continued loss unless the ice is covered by fresh snow.
"The study, published in the peer-reviewed journal Geophysical Research Letters this week, examined glaciers in Western Canada and the United States, excluding Alaska and Yukon, as well as Switzerland, where glaciers lost 13 per cent of their mass over the same period.
"The research letter says glaciers in both regions lost mass twice as fast as they did between 2010 and 2020.
""Unfortunately, in the last four years, we've seen yet another doubling of how much water we're losing from our glaciers annually," he told CBC Radio West host Sarah Penton.
"Menounos says climate change and its effects, including heat waves and changing snow patterns, are draining the "bank account" of fresh water that glaciers contain.
""Doubling the amount of water that's lost from those glaciers, we're sort of stealing from the future," said Menounos, who is also the Canada Research Chair in glacier change. "
