more trouble for the global warmers, page-17

Incidentally, my understanding is that according to glaciologists (bearded mountain-hopping guys not really likely to be engaged in major conspiracies), the world's major glaciers that are disappearing now, contain ice that is over tens of thousand years old.

In other words, my understanding is that they walk to the edge of a glacier (e.g. the bit that will melt next), take ice sample, and then date it (possibly using berillium isotopes on small rocks trapped in it or something like that). If the age of ice is 10000 years, it means it has been there for 10000, covering all the MWP and so on. E.g. hasn't melted and then formed again which seems to be a popular view.

Disclosure - I am not a glaciologist and don't have access to peer reviewed glaciological magazines.

Also, one obvious big deal with glaciers is that they provide drinking water supplies to hundreds of millions of people around the world.