Conclusion and My Learnings

Over the last four weeks, researching about glacial calving and the surrounding environmental issues has really broadened my perspective on how great of an impact, something many people see as so minor, human beings can have on remote and wild areas (or so we thought?). With the rapid decay of many glaciers world wide, tourism operators have taken initiative and harnessed what they could out of what they had - selling glacier tours. This tourism industry is quite large on the "soft adventure" scale of things as it is a limited to no risk activity.

I have been on many glaciers my self and one that really sticks out as a tourism venue is the Athabasca Glacier, located in the Canadian Rockies. (Icefields Parkway). This tour company operates massive Brewster Ice Explorers, specifically designed for glacial travel.




This short video gives you a better understanding on what a trip here would be like.

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNp0ywYRcNk





With the increased level of GHGs and other pollutants in the air, and the increased rate of glacial melt, how much longer will these glaciers be around? A few hundred years... if that?? I believe these tour companies can teach a better understanding to the general public of the effects our everyday lives may have even on glaciers and the issues surrounding them. With a greater understanding on how our lives effect different aspects of the planet some may not think about then perhaps there could be greater control and regulations on how pollutants are handled and what can be done about controlling floods.

This blog assignment, through my research, has really shown me that there is not much awareness of glacial calving and glacial melt world wide. (which would make sense as many people live in warm climates). We can only hope that pollutant emission levels decrease or we find new means of dealing with them or else, one day, the glaciers may be gone for good.



References:

• http://www.explorerockies.com/columbia-icefield/

Photos:

• http://www.explorerockies.com/uploadedImages/Explore_Rockies/_graphics/columbia-icefield-glacier-tours.jpg
• http://banff.mobi/pc/images/columbia-icefield.jpg