Globally, glacier ice loss is accelerating, driven in part by the deposition of carbon in the form of soot or "black carbon," which darkens glacier surfaces and increases their absorption of light and heat. The burning of biomass - trees, leaves and other vegetation around the globe, often in fires associated with deforestation - and fossil fuel combustion are the major sources of black carbon.
[Robert Spencer of the Woods Hole Research Center in Massachusetts] and his fellow scientists have conducted much of their research at the Mendenhall Glacier near Juneau. Mendenhall and other glaciers that end their journey in the Gulf of Alaska receive a high rate of precipitation, which exacerbates the deposition of soot, but also makes for a good research site.
"We are finding this human derived signature in a corner of the U.S. that is traditionally viewed as being exceptionally pristine," Spencer notes. "The burning of biomass and fossil fuels has an impact we can witness in these glacier systems although they are distant from industrial centers, and it highlights that the surface biogeochemical cycles of today are universally post-industrial in a way we do not fully appreciate."
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