Glaciers are melting and changing the borders of different countries due to climate change
Glaciers in different parts of the world are melting due to climate change. Due to the rapid melting of glaciers, environmental and geopolitical changes are taking place all over the world.
Scientists at Vilnius University’s Institute of Geosciences in Lithuania have found that the Earth’s surface is changing due to glacier melting, based on satellite data.
Scientists say glaciers function as natural air conditioners and are crucial for regulating the climate. However, due to climate change, glaciers are not able to play their role.
About 75% of the world’s freshwater is in glaciers, which slowly feed rivers and lakes and help regulate water flow. Not only that, glaciers also help keep our planet cool by reflecting sunlight.
As a result, without glaciers, many ecosystems in the environment will be destroyed. Due to the decrease in the number of glaciers, sea levels are also rising. This threatens coastal flooding, landslides, and the displacement of millions of people living in low-lying areas.
Many regions in Europe are divided along high mountain ranges. The maps of these areas may have to be redrawn due to glaciers changing their shape or melting.
In the meantime, the borders of Italy, Switzerland, and Austria are changing slightly due to glaciers. The borders are shifting due to the movement or collapse of giant glaciers. Last year, the position of the Matterhorn Glacier. It has a maximum width of appraltered the maps of Italy and Switzerland.
Scientists L.J. Buslaviciuty and Lorinus Zukner noted that during the last ice age, around 20,000–22,000 years ago, the glaciers in Scandinavia changed shape, altering the surface of Europe.
Present-day Europe was actually exposed when the glaciers melted at that time. Many glaciers in modern Europe are located in regions such as the Alps, Svalbard, Iceland, and the Pyrenees. They are located in various types of mountainous terrain.
The size of glaciers is decreasing for various reasons. The melting of glaciers could lead to changes in the national borders of many countries.
