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Description

  • The vast majority of glaciers in the European glacial regions are in retreat. Glaciers in the European Alps have lost approximately half of their volume since 1900, with clear acceleration since the 1980s.
  • Glacier retreat is expected to continue in the future. It has been estimated that the volume of European glaciers will decline between 22 and 84 % compared with the current situation by 2100 under a moderate greenhouse gas forcing scenario, and between 38 and 89 % under a high forcing scenario.
  • Glacier retreat contributed to global sea level rise by about 0.8 mm per year in 2003–2009. It also affects freshwater supply and run-off regimes, river navigation, irrigation and power generation. Furthermore, it may cause natural hazards and damage to infrastructure.

Reference information

Websites:
https://www.eea.europa.eu/ds_resolveuid/IND-95-en
Source:
EEA

Published in Climate-ADAPT Jun 7, 2016   -   Last Modified in Climate-ADAPT Dec 12, 2023

Date of publication:

2017

Keywords:
CLIM007, glacier
Climate impacts:

Ice and Snow

Adaptation Approaches:

Climate services, Observations and Scenarios

Sectors:

Disaster Risk Reduction, Water management, Mountain areas

Geographic characterisation:

Europe

Macro-Transnational region:

Alpine Space, Central Europe, Northern Periphery and Arctic, Black Sea Basin (NEXT), Mediterranean Sea Basin (NEXT)

Biogeographical regions:

Alpine, Arctic, Boreal

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Exclusion of liability
This translation is generated by eTranslation, a machine translation tool provided by the European Commission.