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Glaciers On Mount Ararat Are Shrinking

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  • Glaciers On Mount Ararat Are Shrinking

    Glaciers On Mount Ararat Are Shrinking

    Glaciers atop snow-capped Mount Ararat in eastern Turkey have shrunk 30
    percent in surface area over the last 3 decades, a researcher said
    Wednesday.

    Geologist Mehmet Akif Sarikaya, an assistant professor at Istanbul's
    Fatih University, told AFP: "We used satellite images to analyze the
    response of glaciers at the summit of Mount Ararat to climate change."

    "The glacier surface area decreased from 3.04 square miles in 1976 to
    5.5 square 2.09 square miles in 2008, a loss of about 17 acres a year,"
    said Sarikaya, who also lectures at the University of Omaha, Nebraska.

    Temperature changes might eventually wipe out the ice fields, warned
    Sarikaya. "We sought the reasons for the melting and found that the
    temperature had increased by 0.05 degrees Fahrenheit per year" during
    the period studied, he said.

    Increased precipitation and sunshine might have also contributed to the
    glacial melting, he added.

    Previous research has found accelerating glacier erosion in the European
    Alps and South American Andes, stating global warming caused by man
    attributed to the loss.

    Mount Ararat is believed to be the final resting place of Noah's Ark,
    which settled on the mountain top after God flooded the Earth because of
    corruption that plagued the world. Once the waters receded, the Ark came
    to rest on a mountain that believers contend is Mount Ararat, the
    country's highest peak at 16,853 feet.

    Many expeditions have scoured the mountain in search of the lost Ark,
    without any convincing results so far. Sarikaya declined to comment on
    whether the melting of the glaciers would provide opportunities in the
    quest for the biblical ship's remains.

    Published: 2010/09/09

    © RedOrbit




    From: A. Papazian
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