Melting Glaciers: Andes, Altai, Alps and China May Be Completely Ice-Free
Isotopic analysis of rocks near the Andes glaciers has shown that these glaciers have become smaller than at any time in the Holocene, which indicates significant warming in the tropics. Scientists have recorded a violent bloom of blood-red algae Chlamydomonas nivalis on glaciers in the Altai Mountains this year, which leads to their more active melting and may be an indicator of climate change. Small glaciers in northwest China will disappear by the middle of the 21st century. The China Daily newspaper, citing local scientists, reports that the disappearance of glaciers is inevitable, and this should be expected “regardless of the climate scenario and the amount of precipitation.”