Alaskan Glacier Melting at Fastest Pace in 400 Years
One of the USA's tallest glaciers is melting at the fastest pace in 400 years, a new study reports. The study said melting on Mount Hunter in Alaska’s Denali National Park can be linked mainly to rising summer temperatures in the region. "We have not seen snow melt like this in at least four centuries,” said study lead author Dominic Winski, a glaciologist at Dartmouth College.
New ice cores taken from the top of Mt. Hunter show summers there now are least 2 to 3 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than they were during the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries. Specifically, the ice core record shows 60 times more snow melt occurs today than did 150 years ago.
Ice cores are good records of past climate because the water, snow and air in the ice contain evidence of atmospheric conditions over hundreds to thousands of years, the Byrd Polar Research Center said. The seasonal snowfall and its gradual change to ice provide an annual record of snowfall amounts and atmospheric conditions throughout the year.
New Zealand Steps Up Climate Change Fight With Oil Exploration Ban
New Zealand will stop granting offshore oil and gas exploration permits, saying it is committed to playing its part in tackling climate change. It will limit the 2018 offer of exploration permits to onshore acreage in the oil-rich province of Taranaki.
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