Glacier shrinkage is causing a ’green transition’

A glacier in Ecuador studied by the 'Vanishing Glaciers' project. EPFL/Vincent de Stark Glacier-fed streams are undergoing a process of profound change, according to scientists in a paper appearing in Nature Geoscience. This conclusion is based on the expeditions to the world's major mountain ranges by members of the Vanishing Glaciers project. Microbial life will flourish in mountain streams because of ongoing glacier shrinkage. This is what a team of scientists from EPFL and Charles University, Prague, report in a paper published in Nature Geoscience . Their observations are based on samples collected from 154 glacier-fed streams worldwide as part of the EPFL-led Vanishing Glaciers project, which is funded by the NOMIS Foundation. Example of algae flourishing in a glacier-fed stream.