The ongoing recession of most (not all) continental glaciers has been suggested to cause water shortages in downstream demand areas later on. A very recent paper about the Himalayas http://www.nature.com/ngeo/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/ngeo1896.html Models both recession and increased precipitation inputs over 21st century. They find that with combined effects, the anticipated water demands can be met over this time. So it goes in the 'good news' category, with the caveat that it uses coupled climate models. So far I've only read the abstract and requested the reprint. You might be interested in doing the same. My main interest is what they predict for monsoon this century, because previous predictions have um, spanned a wide range. Other areas where glaciers are important for water supply may turn out differently. Whether the upcoming IPCC assessment contains many examples of such good news, we shall see. Until now, those assessmens are not where a fella would go in search of good news.
