The Retreat of Mountain Glaciers since the Little Ice Age: A Spatially Explicit Database

Silvio Marta, Roberto Sergio Azzoni, Davide Fugazza, Levan Tielidze, Pritam Chand, Katrin Sieron, Peter Almond, Roberto Ambrosini, Fabien Anthelme, Pablo Alviz Gazitúa, Rakesh Bhambri, Aurélie Bonin, Marco Caccianiga, Sophie Cauvy-Fraunié, Jorge Luis Ceballos Lievano, John Clague, Justiniano Alejo Cochachín Rapre, Olivier Dangles, Philip Deline, Andre Eger, Rolando Cruz Encarnación, Sergey Erokhin, Andrea Franzetti, Ludovic Gielly, Fabrizio Gili, Mauro Gobbi, Alessia Guerrieri, Sigmund Hågvar, Norine Khedim, Rahab Kinyanjui, Erwan Messager, Marco Aurelio Morales-Martínez, Gwendolyn Peyre, Francesca Pittino, Jerome Poulenard, Roberto Seppi, Milap Chand Sharma, Nurai Urseitova, Blake Weissling, Yan Yang, Vitalii Zaginaev, Anaïs Zimmer, Guglielmina Adele Diolaiuti, Antoine Rabatel and Gentile Francesco Ficetola
Additional contact information
Silvio Marta: Dipartimento di Scienze e Politiche Ambientali, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 10, 20133 Milano, Italy
Roberto Sergio Azzoni: Dipartimento di Scienze e Politiche Ambientali, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 10, 20133 Milano, Italy
Davide Fugazza: Dipartimento di Scienze e Politiche Ambientali, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 10, 20133 Milano, Italy
Levan Tielidze: Antarctic Research Centre, Victoria University of Wellington, P.O. Box 600, Wellington 6140, New Zealand
Pritam Chand: Department of Geography, School of Environment and Earth Sciences, Central University of Punjab, VPO-Ghudda, Bathinda 151401, Punjab, India
Katrin Sieron: Centro de Ciencias de la Tierra, Universidad Veracruzana, Xalapa, Veracruz C.P. 91090, Mexico
Peter Almond: Department of Soil and Physical Sciences, Lincoln University, Lincoln 7647, New Zealand
Roberto Ambrosini: Dipartimento di Scienze e Politiche Ambientali, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 10, 20133 Milano, Italy
Fabien Anthelme: AMAP, University of Montpellier, IRD, CIRAD, CNRS, INRA, 34090 Montpellier, France
Pablo Alviz Gazitúa: Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas y Biodiversidad, Universidad de Los Lagos, Osorno 5290000, Chile
Rakesh Bhambri: Department of Geography, South Asia Institute, Heidelberg University, Voßstraße 2/4130, D-69115 Heidelberg, Germany
Aurélie Bonin: Dipartimento di Scienze e Politiche Ambientali, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 10, 20133 Milano, Italy
Marco Caccianiga: Dipartimento di Bioscienze, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 10, 20133 Milano, Italy
Sophie Cauvy-Fraunié: Centre de Lyon-Villeurbanne, UR RIVERLY, INRAE, 69625 Villeurbanne, France
Jorge Luis Ceballos Lievano: Instituto de Hidrología, Meteorología y Estudios Ambientales IDEAM, Bogotá CP 110911, Colombia
John Clague: Department of Earth Sciences, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6, Canada
Justiniano Alejo Cochachín Rapre: Área de Evaluación de Glaciares y Lagunas, Autoridad Nacional del Agua, Huaraz 02002, Peru
Olivier Dangles: CEFE, University Montpellier, CNRS, EPHE, IRD, University Paul Valéry Montpellier 3, 34199 Montpellier, France
Philip Deline: Université Savoie Mont Blanc, Université Grenoble Alpes, EDYTEM, 73000 Chambéry, France
Andre Eger: Mannaki Whenua—Landcare Research, Soils and Landscapes, 54 Gerald St, Lincoln 7608, New Zealand
Rolando Cruz Encarnación: Área de Evaluación de Glaciares y Lagunas, Autoridad Nacional del Agua, Huaraz 02002, Peru
Sergey Erokhin: Institute of Water Problems and Hydro-Energy, Kyrgyz National Academy of Sciences, Frunze 533, Bishkek 720033, Kyrgyzstan
Andrea Franzetti: Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences (DISAT), University of Milano-Bicocca, 20126 Milano, Italy
Ludovic Gielly: Laboratoire d’ECologie Alpine, University Grenoble Alpes, University Savoie Mont Blanc, CNRS, LECA, 38610 Grenoble, France
Fabrizio Gili: Dipartimento di Scienze e Politiche Ambientali, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 10, 20133 Milano, Italy
Mauro Gobbi: Section of Invertebrate Zoology and Hydrobiology, MUSE-Science Museum, Corso del Lavoro e della Scienza, 3, 38122 Trento, Italy
Alessia Guerrieri: Dipartimento di Scienze e Politiche Ambientali, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 10, 20133 Milano, Italy
Sigmund Hågvar: Department of Ecology and Natural Resource Management (INA), Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Universitetstunet 3, 1433 Ås, Norway
Norine Khedim: Université Savoie Mont Blanc, Université Grenoble Alpes, EDYTEM, 73000 Chambéry, France
Rahab Kinyanjui: Palynology and Paleobotany Section, Earth Sciences Department, National Museums of Kenya, P.O. Box 40568, Nairobi 00100, Kenya
Erwan Messager: Université Savoie Mont Blanc, Université Grenoble Alpes, EDYTEM, 73000 Chambéry, France
Marco Aurelio Morales-Martínez: Centro de Ciencias de la Tierra, Universidad Veracruzana, Xalapa, Veracruz C.P. 91090, Mexico
Gwendolyn Peyre: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of the Andes, Bogotá 111711, Colombia
Francesca Pittino: Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences (DISAT), University of Milano-Bicocca, 20126 Milano, Italy
Jerome Poulenard: Université Savoie Mont Blanc, Université Grenoble Alpes, EDYTEM, 73000 Chambéry, France
Roberto Seppi: Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Pavia, Via Ferrata 1, 27100 Pavia, Italy
Milap Chand Sharma: Centre for the Study of Regional Development, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Mehrauli Road, New Delhi 110067, India
Nurai Urseitova: Institute of Water Problems and Hydro-Energy, Kyrgyz National Academy of Sciences, Frunze 533, Bishkek 720033, Kyrgyzstan
Blake Weissling: Department of Geological Sciences, University of Texas-San Antonio, Flawn Science Building (FLN), San Antonio, TX 78249, USA
Yan Yang: Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610041, China
Vitalii Zaginaev: Institute of Water Problems and Hydro-Energy, Kyrgyz National Academy of Sciences, Frunze 533, Bishkek 720033, Kyrgyzstan
Anaïs Zimmer: Department of Geography and the Environment, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA
Guglielmina Adele Diolaiuti: Dipartimento di Scienze e Politiche Ambientali, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 10, 20133 Milano, Italy
Antoine Rabatel: University Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, IRD, Grenoble-INP, Institut des Géosciences de l’Environnement (IGE, UMR 5001), 38000 Grenoble, France
Gentile Francesco Ficetola: Dipartimento di Scienze e Politiche Ambientali, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 10, 20133 Milano, Italy

Data, 2021, vol. 6, issue 10, 1-8

Abstract: Most of the world’s mountain glaciers have been retreating for more than a century in response to climate change. Glacier retreat is evident on all continents, and the rate of retreat has accelerated during recent decades. Accurate, spatially explicit information on the position of glacier margins over time is useful for analyzing patterns of glacier retreat and measuring reductions in glacier surface area. This information is also essential for evaluating how mountain ecosystems are evolving due to climate warming and the attendant glacier retreat. Here, we present a non-comprehensive spatially explicit dataset showing multiple positions of glacier fronts since the Little Ice Age (LIA) maxima, including many data from the pre-satellite era. The dataset is based on multiple historical archival records including topographical maps; repeated photographs, paintings, and aerial or satellite images with a supplement of geochronology; and own field data. We provide ESRI shapefiles showing 728 past positions of 94 glacier fronts from all continents, except Antarctica, covering the period between the Little Ice Age maxima and the present. On average, the time series span the past 190 years. From 2 to 46 past positions per glacier are depicted (on average: 7.8).

Keywords: glacier retreat; climate change; little ice age; pre-satellite era; global scale (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C8 C80 C81 C82 C83 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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