Are glaciers good indicators of climate change?
• Changes in climate include rising (or lowering) temperatures leading to increased or reduced melting, and changes in the amount and timing of precipitation (snowfall), leading to changes in the amount of accumulation. • In general, changes in the position of the glacier snout, are a good indicator of the mass balance, and thereby of the climate. However, the snout position is only a general indicator. Fluctuation in a glacier terminus is an indirect, delayed, and filtered signal of climate change. Measurements of the mass balance are needed in order to identify any actual changes in the amount of ice in the glacier. Mass balance is a direct and undelayed signal of climate change. • The snout position of glaciers subject to surging may not be in phase with the mass balance, and thereby climatic shifts, and should not be used as a climate indicator. Some glaciers in Pakistan may be subject to surging phenomena. • Observations of a single glacier or group of glaciers in a single small r
