Critics [Ed: of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] noted that it was impossible to make broad generalizations since only 10 of the 54,000 glaciers in the region have been studied regularly. The conference noted this problem and encouraged more studies.

This February scientists at the University of Colorado, Boulder did just that. Using data from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellites, the team began a more comprehensive global inventory of melting glaciers from 2003 to 2010. GRACE measures tiny changes in the Earth's gravitational pull and gravity is related to mass. When glaciers lose ice, their gravitational pull weakens. The two satellites fly at 500km (310.7 miles), so they can detect this loss even for the hard-to-reach, high-altitude glaciers around the globe. The scientists published their findings in the February 8, 2012 issue of Nature, with global images showing the annual changes in ice thickness (in centimeters).

Shifting to other areas, the total global ice mass lost from Greenland, Antarctica and Earth's glaciers and ice caps was about 4.3 trillion tons (1,000 cubic miles), enough to add 0.5 inches (12 millimeters) to global sea level. That's enough ice to cover the United States 1.5 feet (0.5 meters) deep. A quarter of the average annual ice loss came from glaciers and ice caps outside of Greenland and Antarctica while ice loss from Greenland and Antarctica averaged 385 billion tons (100 cubic miles) a year.

However, this is 30% less than scientists had previously thought. Greenland and Antarctica are melting as much as experts expected, but the rest of the world was a surprise. The biggest discrepancy was in Asia.

The 2012 study showed the Himalayas and nearby peaks have lost almost no ice during the past 10 years. The scientists are careful to point out that lower-altitude glaciers in the Asian mountain ranges - sometimes dubbed the "third pole" - are definitely melting. Satellite images and reports confirm this. However, over the study period from 2003-10 enough ice was added to higher and more northern peaks to compensate.

David Fuller's view The implications of this concluding paragraph above, I concur, are that as gradually rising global temperatures cause lower glaciers in the Himalayas to retreat, some of the additional moisture released is being deposited in the colder upper regions.

The Browning Newsletter also has an interesting review of the controversial 2007 IPCC report. This will certainly be of interest to subscribers

Evelyn Garriss Browning will be speaking at the 50th Annual Contrary Opinion Form on 3, 4 & 5th October 2012, at Vermont's Basin Harbor Club.