New Zealand's glaciers are losing ice at a very rapid rate as a result of rising temperatures in recent years due to the climate crisis. This was reported this Monday, March 25, by official sources from the oceanic country after concluding a monitoring expedition in the country's Southern Alps.
The National Institute for Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) explained this Monday in a statement that aerial overflights - carried out by this New Zealand scientific agency since the 1970s to analyze the state of glaciers - show that The glaciers are "shattered and shattered" by the constant loss of ice.
The study indicates that, while the snow line has increased in recent years in the cold and high areas of New Zealand, at the same time it is experiencing "a continuing trend of glacial ice loss", according to the director's observations of this scientific research program, Andrew Lorrey.
Government scientists have been monitoring the health of the country's glaciers for almost 50 years. In the latest sighting of a glacier that had not been flown over since 2018, scientists at the National Institute for Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) noted that it has lost a third of its size. NIWA scientists link this glacial retreat to rising temperatures in New Zealand, which has recorded seven of the ten warmest years the country has experienced since meteorological records exist.
2023 was the second warmest year on record – a trend the rest of the world followed, with 86% of the planet experiencing above-average temperatures that year. Andrew Lorrey, an expert in climate and environmental applications at NIWA, has lamented that "even if we had a few colder seasons, they would not be enough to undo the damage that has already been done." "That's how raw it is, and it's not only happening in New Zealand, but all over the world," added the expert.
The director of this glacier scientific research program has insisted on the need to "address the problem of increasing greenhouse gases to save our glaciers from melting." Glaciers are important sources of meltwater, supporting stream habitats and providing nutrients to lakes, rivers and oceans, as well as feeding hydroelectric lakes, impacting the availability of renewable energy.
In addition, the concern transcends many sectors, such as tourism, since glaciers annually contribute about 100 million New Zealand dollars (60 million US dollars or 55 million euros) to the economy of the oceanic country through tourist activity. . The Franz Josef and Fox glaciers are among New Zealand's most lucrative tourist attractions, "but I am concerned that they are not available for our children to enjoy," Lorrey lamented.
The scientist concluded that "we must address the issue of increasing greenhouse gases if we want to prevent our glaciers from melting."
