Changes of the Triglav Glacier in the 1955-94 Period in the Light of Climatic Indicators

Abstract

The retreat of the Triglav glacier (the Julian Alps, Slovenia, between 2550 and 2400 m above sea level) in the past half century coincides, above ali, with the decline of October precipitations, thus, with the quantity of snow in the accumulation season of the glacier. Among ali climatic elements, summer temperatures and maximum daily temperatures in the months from May to September of the 1954-94 period are the ones that are statistically most closely correlated with the retreat of the glacier's lower end and the thickness of ice. This was established on the basis of annual records about changes in the glacier since 1946, and date of the Kredarica meteorologic station (2514 m) lying at 300 m distance from the glacier. Due to the extreme increase in summer temperatures in the last decade, particularly in the years 1993 and 1994, the glacier, which spread over 45 hectares in the eighties of the past century, has retracted to approx. 4 hectares and the structure of ice has changed.