LARAMIE, Wyo., July 1 -- The University of Wyoming issued the following news release:
A University of Wyoming researcher was part of a team that determined ice found in
rock glaciers in the Teton Range persists in a warming climate, providing a sustained
cold-water streamflow, as opposed to exposed ice glaciers and snowfields, where ice
melts more rapidly.
"The major crux is that rock glaciers are protected from rising atmospheric temperatures
because they are insulated by debris that lies over the top of them. This is like
throwing a down comforter over the top of an ice block on a hot day," says Lusha Tronstad, lead invertebrate zoologist with UW's Wyoming Natural Diversity Database
(WYNDD). "An ice block in the sun will melt faster tha...