| Mont Blanc Glaciers Refuse to Shrink | ||
|
. A recent article appeared in the Journal of Geophysical Research entitled "Very high-elevation Mont Blanc glaciated areas not affected by the 20th century climate change." The research, conducted by six scientists from leading agencies and departments in France and Switzerland that deal with hydrology and glaciology, was funded by Observatoire des Sciences de l’Univers de Grenoble (OSUG), the European Programs ALPCLIM and CARBOSOL, and by the city of Chamonix Mont-Blanc. Mont Blanc is located on the border of Switzerland and France, and the summit of Mont Blanc is clearly visible from the United Nations complex in Geneva, the home of countless meetings of the IPCC and other international agencies addressing the climate change issue. How ironic.
The Vincent et al. team used accurate survey maps from 1905 to compare to maps they generated with modern GPS measurements, and by subtracting the two surfaces, they could determine changes in the ice fields during the 20th century. Vincent et al. state "The most striking features of these figures are the small thickness changes observed over the 20th century. For both areas, thickness variations do not exceed ±15 m. The average changes are +2.6 m at Dôme du Goûter and -0.3 m at Mont Blanc. Considering the uncertainty interval, i.e.,±5 m, it can be concluded that no significant thickness change is detectable over most of these areas". Putting all their findings together regarding the surface mass balance (SMB) of these two glaciers, they state "All these results suggest that the SMB at Dôme du Goûter and Mont Blanc did not experience any significant changes over the 20th century." "Geodetic measurements carried out in 1905 and 2005 on the highest ice fields of the Mont Blanc range indicate small thickness changes and show that these very high-elevation glaciated areas have not been significantly affected by climate change over the last 100 years." Reference: Vincent, C., E. Le Meur, D. Six, M. Funk, M. Hoelzle, and S. Preunkert (2007), Very high-elevation Mont Blanc glaciated areas not affected by the 20th century climate change, Journal of Geophysical Research, 112, D09120, doi:10.1029/2006JD007407. http://www.worldclimatereport.com/index.php/2007/06/26/mont-blanc-glaciers-refuse-to-shrink/
|
