NOVOSIBIRSK, January 18 (RIA Novosti) - Russian scientists need more funding for the study of glaciers, especially in the Caucasus and Siberia, a top researcher said on Friday.

“Glaciers are retreating everywhere,” Vladimir Kotlyakov, president of the Glaciological Association and director of the Russian Academy of Sciences Institute of Geography, said.

“There is sufficient attention to the problem but insufficient funding for research and expeditions.”

There have been no fundamental studies of glacier melting rates in Russia, he said.

The Russian Geographic Society could provide 1.5 million rubles (about $50,000) to fund at least one such expedition, he added.

“That would be enough for a small group of people with scientific and research equipment,” Kotlyakov said.

“I believe an expedition to the TransBaikal area, the Chersky Ridge, would be most interesting: it has been the least studied.”