WARMING STIMULATES MOUNTAIN GROWTH SPURT

THE GIST:

• Some mountains are growing taller at a record rate.
• Disappearing ice has essentially lifted a load off of these mountains' figurative shoulders.
• The main culprit behind the ice melt? You guessed it: global warming..

Mountains along the southernmost swath of South America are growing taller at a record rate, say researchers, who attribute the growth to the accelerating loss of glaciers there.

The new GPS-based measurements from Patagonia's southern ice field show that between 2003 and 2006 the mountains grew at a rate of 39 millimeters (1.5 inches) per year. The discovery was reported in the latest issue of the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters.