Tracking the Karakoram Glaciers

Italian outdoor photographer Fabiano Ventura is taking pictures of glaciers from the vantage points used by historical photographers (eg Vittorio Sella) to show the changes that have occurred over time. His website has some nice mountain pictures including aligned new and old panoramas.

An interview: http://www.americanscientist.org/issues/pub/2010/3/tracking-the-karakoram-glaciers

His website: http://www.sulletraccedeighiacciai.it
(Some English, some Italian. The place names are recognizable even if you don't speak Italian.) If you look at pages 2-6 and follow the more links ("Leggi il resto di questo articolo") you will find the pictures.

Note: I put this in General Backcountry because I thought the interest might be broader than just Photography.

Doug

When I was reading about the glaciers in the Canadian Rockies I learned that they have been retreating for 400 years, a period known as the little ice age.

Stan said:

When I was reading about the glaciers in the Canadian Rockies I learned that they have been retreating for 400 years, a period known as the little ice age.

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I think you may have the term confused. The Little Ice Age is a period from the 16th to the 19th centuries when then world temp was cooler than the preceding Medieval Warm Period. Glaciers increased in many places during this period. World temps have generally increased since then.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Ice_Age.

Many (most?) glaciers have been retreating in the recent (50-100 yr) warming.


Many of the Karakoram glaciers have been relatively stable during the last 100 years in spite of global warming, possibly due to increased precipitation or increased cloud cover. See the interview link in my previous post.

Doug

DougPaul said:

I think you may have the term confused. The Little Ice Age is a period from the 16th to the 19th centuries when then world temp was cooler than the preceding Medieval Warm Period. Glaciers increased in many places during this period. World temps have generally increased since then.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Ice_Age.

Many (most?) glaciers have been retreating in the recent (50-100 yr) warming.


Many of the Karakoram glaciers have been relatively stable during the last 100 years in spite of global warming, possibly due to increased precipitation or increased cloud cover. See the interview link in my previous post.

Doug

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I don't regard Wikipedia as my ultimate source of the facts and I frankly admit to relative innocence on the world's climatological history but I do know that I was surprised to learn at the Columbia Icefields that they have been retreating since the little ice age 400 years ago.

Stan said:

I don't regard Wikipedia as my ultimate source of the facts and I frankly admit to relative innocence on the world's climatological history but I do know that I was surprised to learn at the Columbia Icefields that they have been retreating since the little ice age 400 years ago.

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Wikipedia isn't perfect, but it is often better than many other sources and easily accessed. (I recently read a comparison of Wikipedia and Encyclopedia Britannica--the author concluded that Wikipedia was generally more accurate.)

The Little Ice Age was a relatively cold period and the earth has been generally warmer ever since. It would not be surprising if many glaciers have retreated since then. (It would also be a reasonable guess that many glaciers grew during the Little Ice Age, so you can decide for yourself whether the retreat should be viewed as an overall retreat or a return to a prior state.)

Doug

Stan said:

I don't regard Wikipedia as my ultimate source of the facts and I frankly admit to relative innocence on the world's climatological history but I do know that I was surprised to learn at the Columbia Icefields that they have been retreating since the little ice age 400 years ago.

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We visited the Columbia Icefields visitor center in 2007 on the way from Banff to Jasper. I remember standing on the edge of the tongue of Athabasca Glacier. Then you turn around and walk a few hundred yards and there's a sign that says "tip of glacier 1954. Then a few hundred yards further (farther?) there's another sign..."tip of glacier 1892". Then across the road up the hill a ways it says "1832", etc etc. I'm getting the exact dates and the exact distances wrong. But the point is, you're right, that whole icefield has been shrinking for a whole lot longer than a hundred years.