Global Warming Bypasses Alaska as Glaciers Grow

By P.J. Gladnick

Continued...Does it mean anything?

Nobody knows. Climate is constantly shifting. And even if the past year was a signal of a changing future, Molnia said, it would still take decades to make itself noticeable in Alaska's glaciers.

Rivers of ice flow slowly. Hundreds of feet of snow would have to accumulate at higher elevations to create enough pressure to stall the current glacial retreat and start a new advance. Even if the glaciers started growing today, Molnia said, it might take up to 100 years for them to start steadily rolling back down into the valleys they've abandoned.

"It's different time scales," he said. "We're just starting to understand."

As strange it might seem, Alaska's glaciers could appear to be shrinking for some time while secretly growing. Molnia said there are a few glaciers in the state now where constant snow accumulations at higher elevations are causing them to thicken even as their lower reaches follow the pattern of retreat fueled by the global warming of recent decades.

Al Gore, please take note. You might have to give rebates on those carbon credits you've been flacking.

"Well, I take this as a positive news since the expected global meltdown did not happened. I believe we should be thankful for this turn of events but, we should not be complacent. Any thing can change and before we know it, we are already too late."