Glaciers Found to Have Shrunk 11%

The total mass of glaciers worldwide has diminished about 11% in the last 100 years because of air temperature changes, according to a University of Colorado study.

Reduction has been even more spectacular in other areas, such as the European Alps, which have lost more than 50% of their ice since 1896, according to glaciologist Mark Meier.

Meier, who works at the university’s Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, presented the study at the recent International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics meeting.

The study used information collected from hundreds of glaciers around the world in the past century to estimate trends involving the 500,000 small glaciers dotting the Earth.

The shrinking seems to be related primarily to changes in air temperatures.