Swiss glaciers 'in full retreat'

By Jonathan Amos
Science reporter, BBC News, San Francisco



Swiss glaciers are melting away at an accelerating rate and many will vanish this century if climate projections are correct, two new studies suggest.

One assessment found that some 10 cubic km of ice have been lost from 1,500 glaciers over the past nine years.

The other study, based on a sample of 30 representative glaciers, indicates the group's members are now losing a metre of thickness every year.

Both pieces of work come out of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology.

"The trend is negative, but what we see is that the trend is also steepening," said Matthias Huss from the Zurich university's Laboratory of Hydraulics, Hydrology and Glaciology.

"Glaciers are starting to lose mass increasingly fast," he told BBC News.

Read the full article.

Meanwhile, our intrepid Renee is freezing her, er, buns off in Chicago. Funny thing about global warming. It's never around when and where you need it.

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Mar-goyle

Currently staying at my brother Paul's place in Chicago. Here's his cat, Marble, posing next to a little gargoyle statue.



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Border Walls Keep Out Mary and Baby

by Maryada Vallet12-18-2008

She walks the trails until her ankles swell and her back pulsates with pain. Her abdomen, swollen with eight months of pregnancy, slows her down, and with each step she cannot help but think, “Will I be left in the middle of nowhere to give birth among the dirt and desert pines? Does anyone out there care to take me in, give me shelter?

Similar questions were certainly asked by Mary, the brave young woman who carried Jesus across borders trying to please the mandates of the Roman Empire. Only this time, “Mary” does not have a partner or a donkey to help, and there definitely is no pleasing the empire.

Read the full article.

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It's Kitten Time

Kittens are good for the soul. Check out more kittens at The Daily Kitten

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