Courtesy of Byrd Polar Research Center Lonnie Thompson, professor of geological sciences, reported that at least one-third of the massive ice field atop Tanzania's Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa has disappeared, or melted, in the last dozen years.

Researcher: Global warming makes its mark

Many glaciers and ice caps atop mountains in Africa and South America will probably have melted within the next 15 years because of global warming and little can be done to save them, an Ohio State researcher says.

Lonnie Thompson, professor of geological sciences, reported that at least one-third of the massive ice field atop Tanzania's Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa has disappeared, or melted, in the last dozen years. About 82 percent of the ice field has been lost since it was first mapped in 1912.

And Peru's Quelccaya ice cap in the Southern Andes Mountains has shrunk by at least 20 percent since 1963. More troubling, however, Thompson said, is the observation that the rate of retreat for one of the main glaciers flowing out from the ice cap, Qori Kalis, has been 32 times greater in the last three years than it was in the period between 1963 and 1978.

Thompson, a researcher with Ohio State's Byrd Polar Research Center, reported the results of two decades of studies by his research team, which has surveyed tropical ice caps and retrieved and analyzed ice cores from South America, Africa, China, Tibet and other locations around the globe. He presented his findings during the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in San Francisco.

"These glaciers are very much like the canaries once used in coal mines," Thompson said. "They're an indicator of massive changes taking place and a response to the changes in climate in the tropics."

The retreat and loss of these massive ice bodies make up part of the evidence Thompson presented that has convinced him global warming has begun to make its mark on the planet. He also looked at the ratio between two oxygen isotopes -- oxygen-16 and oxygen-18 -- trapped in ice cores drilled from four sites on the Tibetan Plateau. The higher the oxygen-18 enrichment, the warmer the atmospheric temperatures were when the ice formed from fallen snow. From these, he can extrapolate a history of regional temperatures.

At the Dasuopu Glacier, a 2-kilometer-wide ice field that straddles a flat area on the flank of Xixabangma, an 8,014-meter (26,293-foot) peak on the southern edge of the Tibetan Plateau where they drilled in 1997, the cores showed that the last 50 years were the most enriched -- and therefore, warmest -- in the history of the ice cap. A preliminary look at the isotopes in a core retrieved late last year from Puruogangri, an ice cap in the center of the Tibetan plateau north of Dasuopu, showed a similar enrichment and corresponding warming.

While Thompson's team focused on the records preserved in the ice, his colleagues from the People's Republic of China have analyzed 30 years of records from 178 weather stations spread across the Plateau. Those records show that between 1969 and 1990, the rate of warming has increased at higher elevation sites. That is consistent with the oxygen isotope measurements from the Tibetan ice cores, Thompson said.

"We have long predicted that the first signs of changes caused by global warming would appear at the few fragile, high-altitude ice caps and glaciers within the tropics," the band extending from 30 degrees North to 30 degrees South. "These findings confirm those predictions," Thompson said.

The retreat of the Kilimanjaro and Quelccaya ice caps are the most dramatic evidence, however. Thompson's photographs documented the retreat of both, as well as that of the glaciers that flow from them.

In the case of Qori Kalis, Quelccaya's main ice tongue, the rate of retreat has reached 155 meters (509 feet) per year, three times faster than the rate measured during the last measurement period from 1995 to 1998. The melting ice has formed a large lake at the front of the glacier which did not exist in 1983 but now covers more than 10 acres. (It is four acres bigger than it was in 1998.) Bare earth has been exposed for the first time in thousands of years.

Thompson and his colleagues drilled their first core from Quelccaya in 1976. "I fully expect to be able to return there in a dozen years or so and see the marks on the rock where our drill bit punched through the ice," he said. If that happens, it means that an ice cap 154 meters (505 feet) thick at that spot has vanished.

For Kilimanjaro, four-fifths of the vast ice field that covered the top of the highest mountain in Africa has disappeared in the last 80 years. "At this rate, all of the ice will be gone between the years 2010 and 2020. And that is probably a conservative estimate," he said.

African officials worry that the loss of the ice cap atop Kilimanjaro will be devastating to the thriving tourist trade that brings thousands of people to the mountain each year and fuels the country's economy. But for Quelccaya in Peru -- and similar ice caps and glaciers in the Andes -- the loss represents a much greater threat than lost tourism dollars.

"The loss of these frozen reservoirs threatens water resources for hydroelectric power production in the region, and for crop irrigation and municipal water supplies," Thompson said. The ice in the high-altitude glaciers represents a "bank account" of sorts to feed their power needs. With the melting ice caps, streams have grown and the government is building new dams and hydroelectric plants.

"What they're really doing now is cashing in on a bank account that was built over thousands of years but isn't being replenished. Once it's gone, it will be difficult to reform," he said. In such cases, the countries will probably have to switch to burning fossil fuels to meet their power needs. And by doing so, they'll add more carbon dioxide and water vapor to the atmosphere -- two gases that are known to enhance the greenhouse effect and intensify global warming.

Thompson said that other researchers have documented similar ice losses. An ice cap on Mount Kenya has shrunk by 40 percent since 1963. Two glaciers atop mountains in New Guinea are disappearing and should be gone in a decade. And in Venezuela in 1972, there were six such glaciers -- now there are only two left and they will have melted in the next 10 years.

"We need to take the first steps to reduce carbon dioxide emissions," he said. "We are currently doing nothing. In fact, as a result of the energy crisis in California -- and probably in the rest of the country by this summer -- we will be investing even more in fuel-burning power plants.

"That will put more power in the grid but, at the same time, it will add carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, amplifying the problem."

Thompson's work is supported in part by the National Science Foundation, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Along with Thompson, other members of the research team include Ellen Mosley Thompson, professor of geography; Henry Brecher, research associate emeritus; Mary Davis, Ping-Nan Lin, Tracy Mashiotta, Zhonqin Li and Victor Zagorodnov, all research associates; and Ph.D. candidates Keith Henderson and Deb Bathke.

SCBC cites compensation, health cost priorities

Compensation and the rising costs of health care are foremost on the minds of staff, the University Staff Advisory Committee (USAC) told President William E. Kirwan and other senior administrators during a Feb. 6 presentation.

Each year, the Staff Compensation and Benefits Committee, a sub-group of USAC, compiles staff feedback for a report summarizing recommendations to enhance the work/life experiences of Ohio State staff. The 2000-01 presentation took place in Longaberger Alumni House and was attended by Kirwan; Edward J. Ray, executive vice president and provost; Nancy M. Rudd, vice provost for academic policy and human resources; and Larry M. Lewellen, associate vice president for human resources.

Priority recommendations this year focus on compensation, health care, domestic partner benefits and educational assistance.

Regarding compensation, SCBC's report supported the Academic Plan recommendation for faculty recruitment, which suggested a two- to three-year merit-based plan that would increase salaries by a total of 2.5 percent beyond a 4 percent baseline annual increase.

"We share your sense of priority for this item," Kirwan said. "The challenge this year is that, at the moment, we have very disappointing budget projections, despite obvious efforts by the governor to expand support for higher education."

Kirwan explained that 70 percent to 80 percent of Ohio State's general funds budget comes from state subsidy. Although the Ohio Board of Regents recommended a 5 percent increase in the state's higher education budget, the actual budget proposal is 2 percent.

"Our best hope is to see if we can't get the General Assembly to vote for extra funding. Every state-supported university in Ohio is united on this issue and is lined up to go to the General Assembly to increase the state's share of instructional support. If that happened, our world would change and the picture would be a lot rosier," he said.

USAC's report also recommended that basic salary increases given to staff acknowledge inflation and impending increases in the costs for parking and health care premiums, and recommended that a sliding scale of premium costs based on salary be considered.

"We are sensitive to the fact that increasing health care costs doesn't have the same impact on everybody," Ray said. "We are giving serious thought to the people whose salaries are below $30,000 and to ways in which we could lessen that impact."

Lewellen addressed USAC's priority health care recommendations for establishing additional urgent and prompt care facilities in the Columbus area and increasing the lifetime maximum of $1,000 available for children's orthodontia.

OSU Managed Health Care Systems recently signed a contract with the Central Ohio Primary Care Network, Lewellen said, which would boost the University's primary care network. The rising cost of orthodontia coverage is a concern, he said, but given the University's need to manage the rising costs of all medical care, he was not confident additional funding for this particular item could be provided this year.

USAC recommended that Ohio State extend benefits to domestic partners of University employees.

"I think that USAC and the University administration both share this as a high-priority item, and it is something we want to work to achieve," Kirwan said. The Board of Trustees would need to approve this recommendation, he said, but is unlikely to bring it to a vote until it is sure the University would not face retribution from the General Assembly. "I don't have much optimism for this issue this year," Kirwan said.

USAC's final priority recommendation was that the current three-year waiting period for dependent fee authorization for staff be eliminated to align with the policy for tenured faculty and senior administrative and professional staff. Tenured faculty are eligible for dependent fee authorization immediately.

Additional USAC recommendations include: exploration of alternative leave options to provide more flexibility for staff; expansion of child care facilities on and off campus; mandatory new employee orientation; creating a sliding scale for dependent fee authorization, allowing a greater proportion of fees to be authorized for lower-income employees; and an increase in the post-retirement death benefit amount from $2,000 to $3,500 for individuals age 70 and older.

"It is extremely important to us and to staff that these recommendations be adopted in the near future," said Richard S. Wofford, chair of the University Staff Advisory Committee and interim director of marketing and communications in the Office of the Chief Information Officer. "We feel these recommendations will aid in the recruitment and retention of staff who are among the best in the nation."

"I am impressed with the way you have analyzed the situation and come to consensus on staff needs and priorities," Kirwan said. "We want you to know how seriously we take these recommendations and how valuable your work is in helping us to improve the work/life environment at Ohio State."

USAC will sponsor a Town Meeting with President Kirwan from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. April 20 in the Ohio Union Stecker Lounge. William J. Shkurti, senior vice president for business and finance, and Lewellen are scheduled to join Kirwan for the meeting.

The entire SCBC report is available at www.osu.edu/org/usac/facts.html.

Summary 'scorecard' outlines response to recommendations

For the first time, senior administrators attending the Staff Compensation and Benefits Committee (SCBC) report presentation received a statistical summary outlining the status of the committee's previous recommendations.

"Next year, give us a scorecard to grade ourselves," Executive Vice President and Provost Edward J. Ray requested after the presentation of the 1999-2000 SCBC report. "It might help us to move forward more aggressively."

The summary lists the status of 98 recommendations made between 1986 and 2000. Of those recommendations, 41 percent had been accepted or steps had been taken toward implementation; 12 percent were carried over into the 2000-01 report from the 1999-2000 report; and 47 percent were discontinued for various reasons or changed to a current recommendation.

A sampling of successful past recommendations:

• Increases in the monetary award for the Distinguished Staff Award to $1,000: implemented 1998; and to $1,500: implemented 1999; adding $750 to the base pay of awardees: beginning 2001.

• Offer an Adoption Assistance program -- the program established allows up to $4,000 in reimbursement toward qualifying expenses: implemented 1999.

• Offer supplementary life insurance option -- Voluntary Group Term Life Insurance: implemented 1999.

• Offer short-term disability to staff -- Select Term Disability Insurance: implemented 1999.

• Reimburse third-party Internet providers for OSU work: implemented, per University guidelines, 1999.

• Allow employees to access sick leave to care for a domestic partner: implemented 1997.

• Request for immediate access to dental insurance for new hires: implemented 1996.

• Allow annual exams and lenses for vision coverage: implemented 1995.

• Fee authorizations for dependents who apply within five years of the retirement date: implemented 1992.

Other successes include:

• Improvements to the Child Care Center: Some regional campus facilities, NAEYC accreditation and upcoming post-tax payroll deductions for University employees.

• Establishment of the Commission on Staff Development and Work/Life.

• Improvements to transportation and parking services: Increased bus service, additional short-term parking and availability of discounted COTA passes.

• Improvements to educational assistance: Eliminated salary limits for participants, increased allowable credit hours from seven to 10, and removed degree-seeking requirement.