Earths Deserts, Glaciers and Climate Changes Evonia Hogan Axia College at University of Phoenix

The Earths surface has deserts and glaciers that have changed over the last 50 million or more years which have resulted in severe climate changes. Many deserts are changing by shifting their locations. At the same time glaciers are also changing by being shifted into warmer climates. A desert is a landscape or region that receives very little precipitation.The deserts of the earth are in many regions that use to be grasslands, not so long ago. There are five types of deserts have been identified: subtropical, continental interior, rain shadow, coastal, and polar. Deserts are the results of the earths natural elements carving their way through the terrain. The winds of the world which travel millions of miles, has used the earths smallest, most abundant and powerful projectiles to redesign the terrain. Windblown sands have covered many areas and suffocated the life out of the land. These winds have grown stronger because the lack of resistance. This resistance is due to the loss of forests and other greenery that would reduce the forces of the wind. Some deserts are the result of water erosion. This is where the landscape is changed by a sudden rush of water that is flowing at a higher velocity than usual. The receded water can carve out a canyon and once it drains, leaving a desert behind. Raging forest fires can turn a forest into an unforgiving desert. With the help of Mother Nature, these deserts might have a chance to convert back to a green forest. Those areas where the extreme heat prevents the life giving waters from nourishing the earth tend to become our new deserts.

Many areas that have become desert like are the result of our need for all kinds of developments. This is what we call progress, but Mother Nature probably considers it a nuisance to the planet. The increase demand for urbanization of the planet has caused a change in the environment that has damaged the climate. This damage, which can be anything from acid rain, severe weather conditions and of course, global warming. Glaciers are what I consider the ice cubes of the planet. Glaciers come in several varieties, and can form either in Polar Regions or at high altitudes in temperate regions. Actually glaciers are semi permanent or perennially frozen body of ice, consisting largely of re-crystallized snow that moves under the pull of gravity. Glaciers are made up of fallen snow that, over many years, compresses into large, thickened ice masses.

Several components make up a glacial system: the ice and sediment contained in the glacier; the valleys, fiords and rock features it flows over, on, or around; and the deposits left by its retreat or advance. (2002)

New snow layers create pressure on existing layers of snow and ice. This process, "firnification", changes snow to firn, a dense granular snow (like corn snow). After the first season's melt, snow becomes firn. As it is compressed further, firn becomes ice. (2002)

Glaciers can either be fixed mountains of ice that peek through the arctic waters or a giant ice cube floating in the arctic waters. They are what I would consider the opposite of volcanoes. Like volcanoes, they allow for the control of our planets

temperature. Glaciers keep it cool, while volcanoes relieve the pressure of the inner crust. Glaciers can also be large masses of land that cover mountain ranges where the temperature never rises above freezing. These glaciers, called temperate glaciers, form in low and middle latitudes. An ice sheet is the largest type of glacier on Earth, a continent-sized mass of ice that covers all or nearly all the land within its margins.

Within the past 750,000 years, scientists know that there have been eight Ice Age cycles, separated by warmer periods called interglacial periods.(n.d., http://nsidc.org/glaciers/questions/what.html)

Climate change refers to the variation in the Earth's global climate or in regional climates over time. It describes changes in the variability or average state of the atmosphere over time scales ranging from decades to millions of years. Climate is commonly defined as the weather averaged over a long period of time. (2009) The climate of the todays world is very different than it was a mere 50 years ago. With the increase of global warming and the damage that has been done to our ozone layers, we will never see the sun the way it use to be. Although we have tried to slow down the process of contaminating the skies with pollution, we have not done enough to reverse the effects of global warming. In the next 50,000 years, scientists expect another Ice Age that is more severe than any other that this planet has experienced. This is due to the damage to the earths eco system that has caused a dramatic change to its climates. The rainforests are disappearing, the oceans are dying and the wind is turning the grasslands into deserts. I see the planets various regions taking a 18 0
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degree flip-flop. The hot climates are becoming colder and the colder climates becoming warmer until they have reversed their normal characteristics.

References (2009, June 10). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia - Glacier.. Retrieved 00:56, June 15, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Glacier&oldid=297066556 (n.d.) In National Snow and Ice Data Center All About Glaciers, What is a Glacier? Retrieved 01:00, June 15, 2009, from http://nsidc.org/glaciers/questions/what.html (2002, July 10). Tongas National Forest: Forest Facts Ice fields and Glaciers. Retrieved 1:45, June 15, 2009, from http://www.fs.fed.us/r10/tongass/forest_facts/resources/geology/icefields.htm (2009, June 10). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia Desert.. Retrieved 12:11, June 16, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Desert&oldid=297147355 (2009, June 12). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia Climate.. Retrieved 21:28, June 12, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Climate&oldid=296051455