Glaciers/sunspots/atmospheric vapor/sea ice/atmospheric temperature flux/polar bear habitat/trace gas contamination/observed seasonal burial of some airplanes at one location...which proxy are we working on here?
Glaciers come in a variety of shapes and sizes, they also exist in a variety of locations....and therefore respond in myriad different ways. Every glacier receives a different amount of snowfall/precip and solar radiation and goes through many potential melt/freeze cycles per year depending on the local conditions (which is why layer data is usually sourced from polar regions which have fewer cylces).
Also core stratigraphy (mud/ice/radio carbon rock etc.) is calibrated through the use of known paleo (happened long ago) planetary events (i.e. eruptions and associated dust) that are evidenced in multiple proxies at multiple global locations. That said, one could draw any conclusion they wanted to be observing random events and melt cycles on any random glacier. It's the patterns observed across multiple different glaciers in different locations from which many conclusion are drawn/predicted. This is how one achieves statistical relevance that is an integral aspect of the peer review process.
Greenland and the Antarctic Ice Sheets are the largest freshwater stores. All the "small glaciers and ice caps" don't even come close to storing the massive quantity of ice/water that these large ice sheets and their associated outlet glaciers store. Thinning of the Greenland Ice Sheet is unprecedented.
Glaciers come in a variety of shapes and sizes, they also exist in a variety of locations....and therefore respond in myriad different ways. Every glacier receives a different amount of snowfall/precip and solar radiation and goes through many potential melt/freeze cycles per year depending on the local conditions (which is why layer data is usually sourced from polar regions which have fewer cylces).
Also core stratigraphy (mud/ice/radio carbon rock etc.) is calibrated through the use of known paleo (happened long ago) planetary events (i.e. eruptions and associated dust) that are evidenced in multiple proxies at multiple global locations. That said, one could draw any conclusion they wanted to be observing random events and melt cycles on any random glacier. It's the patterns observed across multiple different glaciers in different locations from which many conclusion are drawn/predicted. This is how one achieves statistical relevance that is an integral aspect of the peer review process.
Greenland and the Antarctic Ice Sheets are the largest freshwater stores. All the "small glaciers and ice caps" don't even come close to storing the massive quantity of ice/water that these large ice sheets and their associated outlet glaciers store. Thinning of the Greenland Ice Sheet is unprecedented.
