As glaciers melt, a new study seeks protection of ecosystems that emerge in their place

By JAMEY KEATEN
Associated Press

GENEVA (AP) — A new scientific study suggests the world should start preparing to protect the ecosystems that emerge from under the disappearing ice, as a warming planet is inevitably causing glaciers to melt. If nothing is done to stop global warming, the world could lose glaciers totaling the size of Finland by 2100. Even a best-case scenario — if the targets of the Paris Agreement to stop climate change are met — predicts glacier shrinkage the size of Nepal, according to a paper published in the scientific journal Nature. The analysis from Swiss and French scientists adds to worries about glacier melt and to a growing call for increasing efforts to protect the planet from climate change, while putting a renewed focus on what will be left behind as glaciers melt away.