OMEGA: using glaciers as indicators of climatic change

摘要

Changes of glaciers presently observed are among the most explicit manifestations of climate change The EU project OMEGA (Operational Monitoring of European Glacial Areas, EVK-2-CT-2000-00069) investigated the state of the art methods that may be applied in monitoiing European glaciers both Alpine and Scandinavian. This paper presents examples of well documented changes of Hintereisferner, one of the OMEGA study glaciers, and concurrent changes in the climate of the surrounding region. From these changes it considers methods of monitoring and analysis that may serve as basis both to the reconstruction of past climates and to the projection of future changes in mass balance and runoff from glaciers. The demand for information on glacier changes of various stakeholders is discussed.