Gore To Get Science Tips At Glacier Abnormally Fast Melting Ice Linked To Global Warming

When Vice President Al Gore hikes up Grinnell Glacier Tuesday, he will witness firsthand a concrete example of global warming.

Scientists say the glacier is melting abnormally fast, and one study predicts global warming will melt Grinnell and all of Glacier National Park’s 70 or so glaciers within 33 years.

Some climatologists say global warming has increased the world’s overall surface temperature between 1.2 and 2 degrees Farenheit since the mid-1800s. Without the warming, a State University of New York study says the glaciers would last another 177 years.

“Fundamental changes are taking place when you have your glaciers just shrink up,” said Dan Fagre, a climatologist who has been working in Glacier Park for six years.

It has not been determined whether the warming trend is caused by carbon dioxide pollution from burning fossil fuels and other so-called greenhouse gases, or is merely a product of long-term natural cycles, Fagre said.

No matter the cause, it is “indisputable” that the Earth is warming, he said.

xxxx