Glacial Retreat Pronounced In Canadian Arctic Park - Ottawa Sun

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"Striking images compiled by researchers at the University of Ottawa clearly show the retreat of Arctic glaciers under the influence of climate change. The glaciers of Auyuittuq Park, in Nunavut, have retreated an average 8.9 metres per year between 1948 and 2003, the geographers calculate.

At this rate, there is a risk that the glaciers will have almost completely disappeared from the areas accessible to hikers and will be confined to the high plateaus at an altitude of more than 1,000 metres, according to Genevieve Mercier, who authored the study -- her thesis for a master's degree in geography from the university. "The glaciers began retreating in 1850, but the rates of shrinking have accelerated, especially since the 1970s," she said.

EDIT

The glaciers that face north have barely changed, but those situated on south and west-facing slopes lost as much as 28.3 metres per year. That's a curious finding. According to meteorologists, Baffin Island is one of the few places in the Far North where, rather than rising, the average temperature has dropped by one or two degrees over the past 50 years. However, according to Mercier, very local variations in climate and precipitation may have provoked the retreat of the glaciers. "The explanation behind all that is far more complex than simple climatic warming," she said. "Fluctuation in glaciers is also a natural process."

EDIT

http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/OttawaSun/News/2005/06/19/1094756-sun.html