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Clague, John J.

Pronounced step-wise atmospheric warming during the 20th century reduced ice cover in mountains by 25-50 percent. Net changes in average annual and mean summer temperatures responsible for this remarkable deglacierization are less than 2 degrees C, a small fraction of the warming that occurred at the end of the Pleistocene. Yet the effects of these changes on mountain landscapes have been profound. Alpine permafrost, which expanded during the Little Ice Age. now appears to be thinning and disappearing in many areas. Loss of alpine permafrost and glacier downwasting appear to be partly responsible for accelerated mass wasting and catastrophic rock-slope failures in high mountains. New lakes appeared during the Little...
Pronounced step-wise atmospheric warming during the 20th century reduced ice cover in mountains by 25-50 percent. Net changes in average annual and mean summer temperatures responsible for this remarkable deglacierization are less than 2 degrees C, a small fraction of the warming that occurred at the end of the Pleistocene. Yet the effects of these changes on mountain landscapes have been profound. Alpine permafrost, which expanded during the Little Ice Age. now appears to be thinning and disappearing in many areas. Loss of alpine permafrost and glacier downwasting appear to be partly responsible for accelerated mass wasting and catastrophic rock-slope failures in high mountains. New lakes appeared during the Little...
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