Tropical glacier melt signals global warming

New York Times : Scientists have long agreed that glacier size in high latitudes is regulated primarily by temperature. Now they say the same may be true in the tropics as well. Although the term “tropical glacier” would seem to be an oxymoron, glaciers do exist at high altitudes in tropical areas. In a new paper published in Geology, Justin Stroup and Meredith Kelly of Dartmouth College and colleagues detail their study of the waxing and waning of the Qori Kalis glacier in the mountaintops of Peru over the past 500 years. Because the glacier sometimes grew during periods of low ice accumulation and shrank during high ice accumulation, the researchers conclude that it is more sensitive to temperature than to other factors, such as the amount of snowfall. The current rapid melting of the Qori Kalis glacier may serve as a thermometer to measure human-induced global warming.