the Adventure Lifestyle magazine

DID YOU HEAR THE ONE ABOUT THE TWO POLES COVERED IN SNOW? _ __ .... Arf'AnT of Earth's glaciers in Greenland: 9 (The actual North Pole has no land, only sea and ice. The closest landmass-500 miles away-is Greenland.) _ --I-'Mf'Ant of Earth's glaciers in Antarctica: 90 _ __ .... Arf'AnT of Earth's fresh water that Antarctica's glaciers hold: over 80 .--A~)prCIXlrrlate percent of Antarctica covered by glaciers: 100 hes of annual precipitation in Antarctica: 1 Average Winter Temperature (F) Increase in Alaska Washington California Vermont Utah Colorado 10 5 5 5 5 5 Increase in Snowfall % 5 10 30 30 40 45 (SOURCE: INTERGOVERNMENTAL PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE, 1999) ---mm~Bl=' A: The big questions are about sea level rise and snow coverlheat balance feedbacks. If the Antarctic Ice Sheet melted, sea level would rise about 250 inches (21 feet) around the world, enough to wipe out some of our major cities. We know the mountain glac- iers are retreating and large icebergs are breaking off of the Antarctic ice shelves, but we don't know what the future will bring. Will reduced snow cover mean more solar radiation absorption on the surface and warmer winters? Or more cloud cover and pre- cipitation? Will warmer winters in the East wipe out skiing? Will the Rockies get drier and see less snowfall? Will the Northwest get wetter and see more snowfall, like two years ago? A lot .of important questions, but not a lot of rock-solid answers. The gc:)al of climate modeling is to provide these answers, but the climate is too difficult to model to have much faith in the results. .==== '

• Cover