The natural world. Looking pretty for 3.5b years.

In Patagonia...Wasting Away in Real Time

Author: Hugh Bollinger/Tuesday, November 5, 2013/Categories: photography, space science, environment, climate change

Re-photography can tell great stories. Remotely sensed snapshots provide a great deal of information about environmental change particularly when a time-line is involved.

An new example is provided by a composite satellite image of Patagonia's Upsala Glacier, a large frozen river in retreat. The changes observed in the glaciers extent have occurred in only 10 years.

Upsala Glacier Patagonia, in Argentina (credit: NASA)

According to the glacial report, "the satellite and space station data, have recorded the position of the ice front over the years. Comparison of the October 2013 image with older data from 2001 and 2004 indicates that the ice front has moved upstream approximately 2 miles over the decade."

NASA researchers believe the retreat is an indication of climate warming in this region of South America.

In Patagonia...wasting away in real time, indeed

WHB

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Tags: climate change remote sensing glacial wasting Patagonia Upsala Glacier glacial retreat