2010/12/14 10:36賴品瑀
摘譯自2010年12月7日ENS墨西哥，坎昆報導；黃毓婷編譯；蔡麗伶審校
氣候變遷造成全球各地高山上的冰量銳減。聯合國環境規劃署（UN Environment Programme , UNEP）7日在坎昆（Cancun）所舉行的氣候會談中指出，未來數十年內，融化的冰川將使得中亞和一部份安地斯山脈原本就乾旱的地區變得更乾，而低窪地區則出現嚴重的水患。
這份新的報告由UNEP極地研究中心「全球資源訊息資料庫-亞倫達分部」（GRID-Arendal）以及亞洲、歐洲、拉 丁美洲和北美各地的專家彙整而成。報告中指出，大的冰川或許得花上幾百年才會消失殆盡，但更多位在低漥地區的小型冰川正在快速融化，而它們通常才是乾旱地 區最主要的水資源來源。
冰川融化將改變全球數百萬人的生活，因為全球半數以上的人口是居住在水源依賴高山融雪、融冰灌注的水域內。高山融冰和氣候的變遷，對人類的生計調適已經造成挑戰。
最新的研究也發現繼阿拉斯加及其海岸山脈之後，冰川數量消失得最多最快的是阿根廷和智利，再其次則是美國西北方和加拿大西南方的冰川。喜馬拉亞興都庫什山等等亞洲的高山冰川、極地、以及安地斯山脈冰川融化的速度則相形緩慢。
報告中也指出歐洲的冰川雖然在1970年代中期有所增加，卻在2000年左右大量消失。挪威環境及國際發展部長蘇爾漢（Erik Solheim）表示，這些事實帶來的警訊再一次地提醒政治家和氣候談判代表們必需全球共同面對氣候變遷問題的重要性。
蘇 爾漢接著宣布挪威將自2011年起，投入超過1200萬美金給為期五年的興都庫什－喜馬拉雅地區氣候衝擊調適的評估計劃。蘇爾漢說：「住在喜馬拉雅山脈的 人們必需為艱鉅且不可測的未來作好準備，他們需要國際社會的奧援。挪威將會全額資助這個新的五年計劃，我們認為這個計劃有堅實的氣象學基礎，能有效地促成 區域合作和氣候調適」。
過去40年裡，冰湖潰洪（Glacial Lake Outburst Floods, GLOFs）的事件持續增加，不僅發生在中國、尼泊爾和不丹， 巴塔哥尼亞和安地斯山脈也時有所聞。智利北方巴塔哥尼亞冰原上發生的最近五起重大的冰湖潰洪 分別出現在2008年4月、10月、12月，以及2009年的3月和9月。每一次潰洪，平時被科隆尼亞冰川阻絕的卡榭二湖就會釋出大約2億噸的水進入科隆 尼亞河。卡榭二湖的湖水補充得如此快速，顯示未來極有可能出現更多的冰湖潰洪。
報告提出以下的建議：
1. 加強冰川的調查。在冰層的統計、監控，尤其冰川後退對水資源、生物多樣性以及下游流域用水的影響上加強跨國合作。
2. 為亞洲和拉丁美洲山區的降水模式及其對當地用水的效應作出更有效的模型。
3. 優先支援並加強與水災調適相關的計劃
4. 優先加強水資源過多和過少地區的氣候調適計劃並有所履行，包括加強女性在計劃中所能扮演的角色。
5. 緊急援助包含大型和小型集水系統的效能和建設，利用綠色科技和農業知識加強現有灌溉系統的效能。
紅圈代表2008－2010年間興都庫什山脈及其下游地區發生的洪水（圖片來源：UNEP Grid Arendal）Melting Glaciers Cause Droughts, Floods; Norway Helps HimalayasCANCUN, Mexico, December 7, 2010 (ENS)
Climate change is causing mass loss of glaciers in high mountains worldwide. Within a few decades, melting glaciers could leave arid areas such as Central Asia and parts of the Andes even drier as the ice melts into water and flows downhill, causing disastrous floods in the lowlands, finds a new report by the UN Environment Programme presented today at the UN climate talks in Cancun.
Compiled by UNEP's Polar Research Centre GRID-Arendal and experts from research centers in Asia, Europe, Latin America and North America, the report says the larger glaciers may take centuries to disappear but many low-lying, smaller glaciers, which are often crucial water sources in dry lands, are melting much faster.
Glacial melt will change the lives of millions as over half of the world's population lives in watersheds of major rivers originating in mountains with glaciers and snow.
Glaciers in Argentina and Chile, followed by those in Alaska and its coastal mountain ranges, have been losing mass faster and for longer than glaciers in other parts of the world, finds the report, "High Mountain Glaciers and Climate Change - Challenges to Human Livelihoods and Adaptation."
The third fastest rate of loss is among glaciers in the northwest United States and southwest Canada.
Melting more slowly are glaciers in the high mountains of Asia, including the Hindu Kush region of the Himalayas, the Arctic and the Andes.
Europe's glaciers had been growing since the mid-1970s, but they began to lose mass around the year 2000, the report shows.
"These alarming findings on melting glaciers underline the importance of combating climate change globally. It sends a strong message to us as politicians and climate negotiators in Cancun," said Norway's Minister of the Environment and International Development Erik Solheim.
Solheim announced today that Norway will fully fund, with more than US$12 million, the five-year Hindu-Kush-Himalayas Climate Impact Adaptation and Assessment Programme from 2011.
"People in the Himalayas must prepare for a tough and unpredictable future. They need our committed support," said Solheim. "Therefore, Norway will fully fund the brand new five-year program. We see this program as a potent mix of solid climate science, promising intra-regional cooperation and concrete adaptation projects on the ground."
In the last 40 years, Glacial Lake Outburst Floods, often called GLOFs, have been increasing, not only in China, Nepal and Bhutan, but also more recently in Patagonia and the Andes.
Five major GLOFs took place in April, October and December 2008 and again in March and September 2009 in the Northern Patagonia Icefield in Chile. On each occasion, the Cachet 2 Lake, dammed by the Colonia Glacier, released around 200 million tonnes of water into the Colonia River. The lake has since rapidly refilled, suggesting high risk of further GLOFs.
The report recommends:Strengthening glacial research and trans-national collaboration with emphasis on mass calculation, monitoring and particularly the effects of glacial recession on water resources, biodiversity and availability downstream.
Improved modeling on precipitation patterns and effects on water availability in particular in mountain regions of Asia and Latin America.
Prioritizing support to and development of adaptation to water-related disasters.
Prioritizing programs and support to development and implementation of adaptation strategies for too much and too little water including strengthening the role of women.
Urgently supporting the implementation and improvement of both small and large-scale water capture and storage systems and improving efficiency of current irrigation systems through the use of green technology and agricultural knowledge.
全文及圖片詳見：ENS
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