Melting Down the Science: Trent Prof Weighs in on Future of Asia’s Glaciers
Glacier expert Dr. Graham Cogley’s commentary in Nature inspires call to action to protect global ice
When it comes to studying glaciers, Dr. Graham Cogley, professor emeritus of Geography at Trent University, and global-scale glaciology expert, has done it all. When he has something to say about the newest studies on the subject—people listen.
Internationally-known scientific journal, Nature, recently published “The future of Asia's glaciers,” a commentary by Professor Cogley on an article in which researchers conclude Asia’s glaciers will continue to lose ice and that the severity of the loss is nearly proportional to the extent of the warming they endure.
The commentary illustrates a positive flip-side to the study which he describes as a “pioneering effort.”
“The more warming we can avoid by reducing greenhouse-gas emissions, the more we can conserve these Asian water resources,” he says. “We do not suffer diminishing returns. Although there are formidable obstacles in the way of limiting warming to established targets, every bit will help.”
Both the article and commentary have caught the attention of international media.
“Climate science should be intensely interesting to everybody,” states Dr. Cogley. “It touches every part of our lives and will only increase in importance. Any effort to translate scientific findings into everyday language, so we can all recognize the problems and contribute to the solutions, is worthwhile.”
Having long studied impacts of glacier mass and area loss on water conservation and rising sea-levels, Prof. Cogley contributed to the two most recent Assessment Reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Currently chief editor of the Journal of Glaciology, he has published and edited several other works; many focussed on Asian glaciology. Prof. Cogley also spearheaded Trent's monitoring of glaciers in Nunavut. Trent has been the lead institution of the Nunavut program since 1983.