OTTAWA, Dec. 5 (Xinhuanet) -- Glacier cover in the Canadian Rockies is nearing its lowest point in 10,000 years and water levels on the country's biggest river of St. Lawrence have fallen significantly in the last century, it is reported here Friday.

    About 1,300 of Canada's glaciers have lost between 25 percent and 75 percent of their mass since 1850, Statistics Canada said Wednesday in a report entitled Human Activity and the Environment.

    The report said most of the losses have been recorded in the last 50 years. "Along the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains, glacier cover is receding rapidly and is now close to its lowest level in 10,000 years," the report added.

    On the St. Lawrence river, levels at Montreal "averaged two meters above the long-term average low-water mark at the outset ofthe last century."

    Matthew Bramley, director of climate change at Alberta's Pembina Institute for Appropriate Development, told reporters thatthe recession of Rocky Mountain glaciers has long been attributed to global warming.

    While Great Lakes levels have fluctuated for a number of reasons over the last century, Bramley said, recent concerns aboutgreenhouse gas emissions that led to the Kyoto protocol suggest global warming could also have an impact on the navigability of the lakes and the St. Lawrence.

    "The Rocky Mountains and the Great Lakes are really at the heart of Canada's national identity. Both are facing the prospect of being transformed out of recognition by climate change if Canada and other industrialized countries fail to act quickly to implement the Kyoto protocol and then go much further to cut emissions," Bramley said. Enditem