1 Background - mountain.PROJECTS

PETRI PELLIKKA AND KARI KAJUUTTI (ED)5 Conclusions including socio-economic relevance, strategicaspects and policy implicationsGlobal changeOMEGA has contributed to global initiatives by developing a monitoring system for assessingvolumetric and areal changes of glaciers, which may be considered indicators of climaticchange. Within the project all the relevant material over the study glaciers have been collectedsince the late 1800s enabling a long time series to be studied (see for example Figure 43). Thedata collected can be used, for example, for climate-glacier interaction studies and can berelated to the industrialization and green house gases emissions. The data are also availablefor botanists or soil scientists the studying permafrost or expansion of alpine plants.Fresh water source and hydro powerGlacier monitoring is vital in assessing fresh water sources and energy sources, which areimportant in sustainable development. Glaciers are an important fresh water source for manysouthern European agricultural areas (Italy, France, Spain), but also for many Asian andSouth American countries. Glacial retreat would increase the availability of water in the shortterm, but in the long term, decreasing water sources would become too scarce for agriculturaldevelopment in some areas (Braun et al. 1999).Figure 44. Meltwater coming out from a tunnel beneath the debris covered dead ice zone ofHintereisferner on August 10, 2003.The active glacier is seen on the right. (Photo: Petri Pellikka).The importance of glaciers in power supply is significant in some European areas, such asNorway and Austria (Engeset 1999). Approximately 20 percent of Norway’s power supply is65