The effects of global warming on the glaciers in Garibaldi Provincial Park will impact Squamish, according to a local researcher.
Johannes Koch is a Simon Fraser University Ph.D candidate who has been studying glaciers in Garibaldi Provincial Park for the past three years.
"Definitely in the park there are some glaciers that won't be there in 50 years," he said.
He said the glaciers in the park are about 35 to 40 per cent smaller now than they were 120 years ago.
Using photographs from 80 to 90 years ago, Koch has been able to see exactly how the glaciers have changed, and there are methods to see how glaciers behaved over longer periods of time.
People see global warming as a catch phrase and they think they know what is going on but they can't translate it into what is going on here, Koch said.
"It's right here too."
He said the shrinking glaciers would mean a smaller water supply - which is bad news for people, salmon and eagles.
"Water shortages will occur at some point in later summer," he said. "This will become a regular feature."
"The salmon will be affected at some point," he said, namely when the water levels in the streams and rivers drop. And that in turn will affect the eagles, which use the salmon as a food source.
Tourism in 樱桃视频could suffer as well as the 150 glaciers in the park vanish.
"I'm pretty sure for the park they are one of the main attractions," Koch said.
According to Koch, glaciers do fluctuate over time, and the size of them change, but they don't usually change at such a rapid rate.
He said a great deal of global warming could be attributed to humans putting carbon dioxide (CO2) into the air.
On Jan. 20 at 7 p.m. at the Brackendale Art Gallery, Koch will present a power point with photographs called Written in Ice: 10,000 Years of Glacial History in Garibaldi Provincial Park. The presentation is accessible to everyone and is by donation.
"I really will start from scratch," he said. "People don't have to know anything."
He did suggest people should come open-minded to the idea that humans do induce climate change.
