Questions and answers

• 1. Have the glaciers in Norway grown or shrunk in recent years?

  The answer is not so simple, because glaciers in Norway often do not behave in the same way. In Western Norway, most glaciers grew in the 1990s. This was because there was a lot of snow in the winters of the late 1980s and early 1990s.

  Heavy snow in winter means that glaciers can gain weight. In recent years, most glaciers in Western Norway have shrunk due to low snowfall and warm summers. If you want to know more about how specific glaciers in Norway have changed in recent years, you can go to the NVE's web pages. A link can be found on the museum's links page.

• 2. Why can two glaciers in the same area behave differently?

  This has to do with the exposure of the glaciers. It is the exposure that determines the so-called reaction time that all glaciers have. The reaction time is the time that passes before we can see climate change in the form of glacier growth or shrinkage.

  Short and steep glaciers have a very short reaction time of only a few years. Long and gentle glaciers have a much longer reaction time, because the ice needs much longer to reach the glacier front, where we usually see the changes most clearly.

  Here you can see the reaction time of a few selected glaciers in Western Norway, all of which are branches of the Jostedalsbreen glacier:

  Supphellebreen: 2 years

  Bødalsbreen glacier: 3 years

  Bøyabreen: 3 years

  Briksdalsbreen glacier: 3 years

  Kjenndalsbreen glacier: 3 years

  Melkevollbreen: 3 years

  Bergsetbreen: 4 years

  Fåbergstølsbreen glacier: 23 - 28 years

  Lodalsbreen: 23 - 28 years

  Nigardsbreen: 23 - 28 years

  Stegholtbreen: 23 - 28 years

  Tunsbergdalsbreen glacier: 35 years

• 3. What is the firngrensa or firnlinja on a glacier?

  The firn boundary or firn line is the boundary between ice and firn (= the snow from last year) on the glacier in the autumn, when the melting season is over. This line is often the same as the equilibrium line, which is the boundary line on the glacier where there is as much snow and ice as there is melting.

Did you not find an answer to your question? Feel free to email us: post@glacier.museum.no. Norwegian Glacier Museum has its own expert who can answer most questions, or guide you to find the knowledge you are looking for.