Cool on man-melted glaciers.

Hilmar Schmundt, "The Coming and Going of Glaciers: A New Alpine Melt Theory," Der Spiegel, May 23, 2005 (Spiegel.de)

The German news magazine Der Spiegel summarizes the research of Swiss scientist Ulrich Joerin and colleagues, with a result that calls into question the conventional wisdom about the melting of Alpine glaciers.

The magazine recounts a conversation with Joerin in the field: "'A few thousand years ago, there were no glaciers here at all,' he says. 'Back then we would have been standing in the middle of a forest, He digs into the ground with his mountain boot until something dark appears: an old tree trunk, covered in ice, polished by water and almost black with humidity. 'And here is the proof,' says Joerin."

Joerin is analyzing tree trunks as part of his doctoral thesis for the Institute for Geological Science at the University of Bern. The revolutionary conclusion he is reaching is that the current melting of Alpine glaciers "appears to be part of a regular cycle in which snow and ice have been coming and going for thousands of years."

According to Joerin's hypothesis, the glaciers "have shrunk down to almost nothing at least ten times since the last ice ...