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A rapidly changing Earth

February 14, 2001

Tropical glaciers in the Andes of Peru and the Mt Kilimanjaro ice fields of East Africa are retreating at such alarming rate that, if current warming trends continue, they could be completely ice free within 10-20 years, says glaciologist, Professor Lonnie Thompson from Ohio State University.


According to Professor Thompson, Quelccaya in Peru, the only true ice cap in the tropics, retreated 32 times faster in the last two years (1998-2000) than during the 20 years from 1963 to 1983, and the Mt Kilimanjaro ice fields have retreated by at least 80% since 1912.

“As a result of recent global warming, many tropical glaciers around the globe may disappear completely by 2020. Apart from the dramatic impact this will have on local communities, it is also a potent sign that the Earth is undergoing enormous changes“, he says.


Professor Thompson’s work forms part of a large international effort, under the auspices of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP), to understand how the global environment is changing.

According to Dr Will Steffen, Executive Director of the IGBP Secretariat based in Stockholm, Professor Thompson’s work adds to the growing body of evidence of a rapidly changing earth. “Retreating glaciers is one of many symptoms that the Earth is undergoing dramatic changes within our lifetime. Climate change is just one piece in a much bigger puzzle”, he says.


“Many changes are taking place on the global scale with impacts that go beyond what most people can imagine. Nearly 50% of the Earth’s surface, for example, has been transformed by human action, with significant consequences for biodiversity, nutrient cycling, soil structure etc as well as for climate.”


Dr Steffen, along with many thousands of scientists within the IGBP network, believes that the Earth is a complex system that behaves as an integrated whole. “Large changes in one part of the system will have an impact on other parts”, says Dr Steffen, “and understanding these changes is no simple task”.


The rapidly growing field of “Earth System science” is ushering in a new era in which social scientists, economists, climatologists etc are working together to understand this complex system, says Dr Steffen.


Dr Steffen and Prof Thompson will join three other global change experts (Professor Roger Pielke Snr, Colorado State University, Professor Emilio Moran, Anthropological Center for Training and Research on Global Change and Dr Inez Fung, UC Berkley) for a special symposium on global change to be held at the AAAS meeting in San Francisco.

“Earth System Science: The Quiet Revolution” will be held from 3 pm to 6 pm on Sunday 18 February at the San Francisco Hilton and Towers Hotel.

For more information contact:

Dr Susannah Eliott (IGBP Science Communicator) – Mob: (+46) 708 346 463; Direct phone: +46 8 6739 556; email: Susannah@igbp.kva.se, Fax: +46 8 16 64 05


Dr Will Steffen (Executive Director, IGBP) – Mob: (+46) 73 944 3770


Symposium speakers will also be available at a press briefing at 10 am on Sunday 18 February. Check the AAAS programme for details.


Background

What is IGBP? The work of IGBP involves bringing together research and expertise from thousands of scientists around the world in many different disciplines to improve our understanding of global environmental change. Together with its partner global environmental change programmes, IGBP produces policy relevant knowledge on major issues of global sustainability, such as food, water and carbon systems. More information about IGBP can be found at: www.igbp.kva.se


Symposium Synopsis: The Earth’s environment is now, as never before, being affected by human activities and vice versa. The climate is changing within our own lifetimes, the land and oceans are being modified in every corner of the globe and resources such as food & water are being stretched to the limit in many regions. How are these processes related? How does slash-and-burn agriculture in the Amazon Basin impact on rainfall in Europe? How does the release of pollutants into the atmosphere affect the circulation of the oceans?
It has long been thought that life on Earth exists because of an accidentally favourable combination of physical and chemical parameters. However, there is increasing evidence that the biosphere is fully involved with chemical and physical processes in controlling the metabolism of the planetary life




International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP)