Your article reports that between 1973 and 1999, “the total area covered by almost 940 Swiss glaciers fell by 18 percent, an average rate of 1.3 percent per year.” An 18 percent loss over 26 years represents an annual rate of less than 0.8 percent. An annual loss of 1.3 percent would mean a total loss over 26 years of almost 29 percent.
Mark W. Budwig New York, N.Y.
The 18 percent figure is correct for the period from 1973 to 1999. The 1.3 percent annual figure was for the period from 1985 to 1999
.—S. Perkins
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