Russian researcher calls for glacier study

Russia needs to put more funding into the study of glaciers, especially in the country's Caucasus and Siberia regions, a researcher says. Glacier melting rates with climate change need fundamental study, said Vladimir Kotlyakov, president of the Glaciological Association and director of the Russian Academy of Sciences Institute of Geography. "Glaciers are retreating everywhere," he told RIA Novosti Friday. "There is sufficient attention to the problem but insufficient funding for research and expeditions." The Russian Geographic Society could provide about $50,000 to fund at least one expedition, he said. "That would be enough for a small group of people with scientific and research equipment," Kotlyakov said.