Importance of Glaciers

Serena Cuoghi
Title of Professor of Biology

The glaciers have remained as a sample of the periods of glaciation, managing to preserve themselves through the millennia thanks to the low temperatures at the polar ends of the earth, as consequence of its inclination with respect to the incidence of solar rays and on the tops of the highest peaks in the world due to temperature and pressure conditions atmospheric. The slow process of their formation, as well as the large areas they cover, have allowed us to witness their magnanimous presence, however, the fragile balance achieved in the The dynamics of the planet has been rapidly altered by the accelerated pace of the technocratic development of humanity, threatening the stability of these giants and with it that of all of humanity. Land.

The complex cycles that contribute to the maintenance of ice at the poles and high mountains have allowed vital adaptation to these through functions such as: 1) serve as freshwater reserves, storing large quantities of it from the compaction of snow accumulated layer upon layer during periods of winter, and which is subsequently released gradually as it melts, helping to maintain the flow of rivers and streams during periods of summer; 2) regulate the climate of both the polar regions and the rest of the planet through the flow of currents of air masses and of the oceanic waters, by causing their movements through the clashes between the high temperatures of the tropics and the lows of the poles; and 3) provide habitat for wildlife adapted to extreme winter conditions.

life in the ice

As inhospitable as it may seem, the scenery between the glaciers is also an important haven for life. Its extreme geography has been used for thousands of years by various ethnic groups from its nearby areas, such as the Inuit, the Saami, and the Nenets of the region. Arctic, who resort to them during the less intense cold seasons, to provide themselves through hunting and fishing with the sources of protein necessary for their subsistence, even Thus, the strong adversities of its icy and stormy climate do not allow a prolonged and stable stay of humans, beyond temporary visits from occasional scientists and tourists.

On the other hand, seals, polar bears, penguins and other birds such as albatrosses and petrels, as well as a wide variety of aquatic invertebrates and fish, among others. known species and an indeterminate number of those for which evidence of their existence has not yet been found, strictly depend on the presence of the glaciers at the poles, due to the accompaniment that they gave them throughout their evolutionary processes, being deeply integrated into environmental dynamics specific to these areas and whose readaptation to higher temperatures would imply a process for which the necessary time is very possibly not available, global warming becoming an imminent threat that threatens in the first instance against the survival of these species, with a no less worrying scenario for the species of the mountain glaciers, which actually have been the first to be strongly affected, such as the Humboldt Peak glacier in Venezuela, the Ok in Iceland, the Pizol in Switzerland, the Muir of the Alaska Glaciers and the Qori Kalis in Peru, with considerable effects on the existing flora and fauna in its slopes.

shocking matters

As for what corresponds to the rest of the planet and humanity, not only the Titanic has had an impact due to the glaciers, the flow of fresh waters that from them they reach warmer lands, has allowed the development of agricultural systems with which populations are sustained in the areas furthest away from the strip tropical, also serving for the generation of hydroelectric energy without which modern life could no longer be possible, the detriment of both resources due to the loss of glaciers would mean the displacement of large human populations, profoundly affecting the stability of entire nations, with catastrophic consequences for all humanity.

Added to this, the affectation by the alteration in the volume of the oceans, the temperature and salinity of its waters and the geography of the coasts, as a consequence of the melting of large glacier masses, constitutes by itself an accumulation of radical variations in the ecological balance of the entire planet, with an incalculable impact and very few palliative measures to which go.

As if this were not enough, there is also the possibility of potentially risky life forms being trapped in the deepest layers of the glaciers, such as viruses, bacteria, prions and others, still unknown to science, that could recover their functional activity after the thaw of their shelter and, although this is part of the various hypothetical approaches regarding the consequences of the loss of glaciers, there are also no forceful statements that flatly deny this idea, Therefore, the most recent scientific investigations in development have opened fields of study for the search and analysis of what can be found protected in the glaciers.

The characteristic frosts

Just like mountains and tectonic plates, glaciers also move extremely slowly due to the large areas they occupy and their heavy masses, however, the increasingly frequent fractures in these, generate the detachment of much smaller fragments that end up being displaced by the force of the tides and dragged towards areas increasingly used by boats in the seas, while the communities Landslides that depend on the presence of glaciers in their high mountains become eyewitnesses of landslides with radical alterations geographical.

The ablation area of ​​the glaciers is growing as a result of the elevation of the terrestrial average temperature, but this phenomenon is not a recent fact, it is rather a constant within the thermodynamics of the planet that has allowed the formation of moraines in almost all regions and continents throughout the geological ages, leaving deep footprints in a geography so vast that evidence of it can be found thousands of miles away. Km above sea level, so this new process of massive glacial melting is also generating multiple records for the posterity.

References

Ames Marquez, A., & Francou, B. (1995). Cordillera Blanca glaciers in history. In: Bulletin de l'Institut Francais d'Etudes Andines, 24 (1) 1995.

Eugenia, m. (2005). Glaciers unique morphological systems. Teaching Earth Sciences, 13(3), 218-219.

Murray-Tortarolo, G. (2020). Stories frozen in polar ice. University Digital Magazine, 21(2).

Obermaier, H., & Carandell Pericay, J. (1916). Quaternary glaciers of the Sierra Nevada.

Serrano, E., González Trueba, J. J., & Sanjosé Blasco, J. J. d. (2011). Dynamics, evolution and structure of the rock glaciers of the Pyrenees.