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Scientists in England have found that 3,100 glaciers are “surging” in a stunning development after President Trump announced the revocation of the “endangerment findings”
Scientists in England have found that 3,100 glaciers are “surging” in a stunning development after President Trump announced he would revoke the findings that revealed the dangers of greenhouse gas emissions in human health.
Dr. Harold Lovell, a glaciologist from the University of Portsmouth and lead author of the study, found that large amounts of ice have built up over different regions throughout the decades.
Glacier surges, as this phenomenon is called, occur when a glacier moves much faster than normal, rapidly transporting ice to the glacier front and often causing advances. The 3,100 glacier surges Lovell’s study focused on were across the Arctic, High Mountain Asia, and the Andes.
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Lovell and his colleagues warn that, while this may sound like a positive development, glacier surges may be affected by climate change and could pose a hazard to the environment and to people living in nearby communities.
“By drawing on previous studies, we have been able to piece together the growing body of evidence that shows how climate change is affecting glacier surges, including where and how often they happen,” Lovell said. “This includes instances of extreme weather such as heavy rainfall events or very warm summers triggering earlier than expected surges, suggesting an increasing unpredictability in their behaviour.”
Among the potential risks to communities in the high mountain region, given the drastic environmental changes, were: glacier advances, when ice overruns buildings, roads, and farmlands; river blockages, creating dangerous lakes that can release floods; sudden glacier detachments; meltwater outbursts beneath the glacier; and more.
Surges can also be catastrophic for the glacier itself, as the ice often melts at lower elevations, explains the scientist.
“When glaciers surge, they very quickly spend all the ice they have built up over a long period of time,” Lovell said. “This ice then melts away in warmer temperatures at lower elevations, leaving the glacier very vulnerable.”
“There are examples of glaciers ‘surging themselves to death’–losing so much ice during a surge that they cannot recover in the current warmer climate,” he added.
Lovell’s paper, which was published in Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, identified 81 glaciers that pose the greatest danger when they surge. Among them were located in the Karakoram Mountains in China, India, and Pakistan, where populated valleys sit right below the surging glaciers. Others were located in the Tweedsmuir Glacier in Alaska-Yukon and the Kolka Glacier in the Caucasus.
Glacier surges report come amid drastic environmental changes in the Trump administration
The new research comes as the Trump administration announced on Thursday that it would rescind the 2009 endangerment findings, which found that greenhouse gas emissions pose dangers to human health.
The findings, unveiled under the Obama administration, have directed the federal government’s regulations on greenhouse gas emissions. The regulations have served as a way to mitigate the effects of climate change—which President Trump has previously cast doubt on—and reduce the impact of heat waves, wildfires, droughts and floods.
Around 20% of greenhouse gas emissions, which trap heat in the atmosphere and drive climate change, come from the tailpipes of cars and light trucks. Others come from airplanes, power plants, and oil and gas facilities.
The endangerment finding was based on peer-reviewed research and has been repeatedly defended and upheld in federal courts. According to Joseph Goffman, the former assistant administrator of EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation, since the findings were first published, the evidence of the dangers of greenhouse emissions and how they also affect climate change has only gotten stronger.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt had previously argued that the move would save Americans $1.3 trillion, but it remains unclear how the Trump administration arrived at that number.
Environmental groups were quick to denounce the move, arguing that the administration was endangering the lives of millions of Americans.
“The laws of physics don’t care about Donald Trump. They don’t care about his constant lies and they don’t care about his insincere report full of cherry-picked data,” Tim Donaghy, Greenpeace USA Research Director, told The Mirror US. “Burning more fossil fuels will absolutely put Americans in greater danger – that’s irrefutable. With today’s announcement, Trump’s EPA has utterly betrayed its mission to ‘protect human health and the environment.”
“This is a slap in the face for all of the millions of Americans who are experiencing the devastating costs of extreme heat, wildfires, flooding, and storms. Earthjustice and our partners will see the Trump administration in court,” Earthjustice, an organization that litigates environmental issues, said in a statement.
