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99% of Alaskan glaciers melting
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by Amy Judd | October 9, 2008 at 10:10 am
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It's not news that most of Alaska's glaciers are either retreating or thinning, but according to a new book by the US Geological Survey, about 99% of the glaciers are melting.
About 5% of Alaska is covered by about 100,000 glaciers, which is an area bigger than the size of Virginia. 99% of that will soon be gone however.
A USGS project to photograph the glaciers of Montana's Glacier National Park also showed significant retreat. Based on these photos and glacier recession rates, scientists predicted the park could lose its namesakes by 2030.
Greenland, which is covered by more ice than anywhere else in the world outside Antarctica, has also seen significant melt of its glaciers in recent decades.
The new book on Alaska's glaciers used satellite images, aerial photos, maps and other studies to document the retreat of the glaciers, which began as early as the mid-19th century. Some glaciers have even disappeared since being mapped in the mid-20th century, the report found.
The report also said that glaciers in Alaska saw "significant retreat" in the last two decades of the 20th century.
Glaciers at the lower elevations have been hit really hard, and only a few at higher elevations have advanced. Two of Alaska's biggest glaciers, Bering and Malaspina are suffering the most from climate change.
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (20)
at 11:22 on October 9th, 2008
I took this photo in July 2008, so there might have been some snow-melt independent of climate change
One of the other people in our crew is a professor of geology and he pointed out a number of "receding glaciers" (climate change), but I don't recall if there is evidence of that in this photo (this is "Walker Glacier" on the Tatshenshini-Alsek river)
kevinc has contributed a photo to this story.
at 11:29 on October 9th, 2008
I took this while on a cruise during July 2008. Although I expected some amount of melting due to the summer season, I was told that these are melting down not just during the summer but through a major part of the year.
ddlj81 has contributed a photo to this story.
at 11:41 on October 9th, 2008
When you stand and look at the fields where there use to be glaciers it is overwhelming. The grandeur and scope of the movement is phenomenal. At Exit glacier they have put time signs along the path to show you where the glacier was at different points in time. The signs get closer and closer together as you get to the glacier. A stark reminder of how fast it is retreating.
Mike the B has contributed a photo to this story.
at 11:47 on October 9th, 2008
That is just so sad. Thanks for letting us know what it looks like.
at 11:47 on October 9th, 2008
Alaska August 2008
maur0023 has contributed a photo to this story.
at 11:49 on October 9th, 2008
amyjudd, very scary stuff. What are we gonna do when they're all gone?
at 11:58 on October 9th, 2008
Alaska creates these blue ice "growlers" as the ice melts and rolls in the water over and over. They break off of the Tracy Arm Glacier as it slides into the water.
According to the naturalist on the excursion, most of these glaciers have been melting since the 17th century when Alaska was first mapped and charted.
masherwould has contributed a photo to this story.
at 12:01 on October 9th, 2008
near whittier glacier (100 miles from Anchorage)
mwalkerd has contributed a photo to this story.
at 12:39 on October 9th, 2008
A snapshot from College Fjords, Alaska
cinnamon girl has contributed a photo to this story.
at 13:24 on October 9th, 2008
This is the melt off from Exit Glacier on the Kenai peninsula in Alaska.
Sempivirens has contributed a photo to this story.
at 13:29 on October 9th, 2008
While on an Alaskan cruise this past summer (2008), I was amazed at huge amounts of water pouring out from the glaciers!
MayDayKay has contributed a photo to this story.
at 13:43 on October 9th, 2008
Photo was taken in August 2005.
aspen39 has contributed a photo to this story.
at 17:40 on October 9th, 2008
Juneau's Mendenhall Glacier. This glacier has significantly receeded in the 7 years that I have lived in Juneau. I will soon add additional photos from when I first moved here in 2001.
flamindragoness has contributed a photo to this story.
at 19:24 on October 9th, 2008
We were hiking on an exinct glacier at the head of Cathedral Rapids near Tok, Alaska. It was a facinating landscape, very rugged and almost completely free of flora except for areas of moss and a few alpine plants the Dall sheep were feeding on.
There were still areas of sloughing with ice in the bottom such as in this pictre.
DarcyBromley has contributed a photo to this story.
at 11:56 on October 10th, 2008
amyjudd, thanks for writing this. I think a lot of attention has drifted away from the environment with the global economy melting down, but that's not going to stop the glaciers from melting - great to keep focus on it.
at 16:49 on October 10th, 2008
amyjudd, I like this story. It's good stuff.
Very interesting... and very sad too. Nice story.
at 16:58 on October 10th, 2008
This picture shows the rapid retreat of the South Sawyer Glacier in Tracy Arm, south of Juneau. The lighter rock with no vegetation has been rapidly exposed in the last decade, most over the period of a couple summers.
occidental has contributed a photo to this story.
at 17:53 on October 10th, 2008
Mendenhall Valley and glacier. This is a spring photo.
mggak has contributed a photo to this story.
at 19:43 on October 10th, 2008
Photograph at Matanuska Glacier, Alaska July 2008.
This is a runoff pond on top of of the tail of the glacier. The surround ice is covered with the moraine and glacier "flour". This actually insulates the ice and decreases melting. For more picture of the Matanuska glacier please visit my flicker account at www.flickr.com/photos/niyachen/ .
niyachen has contributed a photo to this story.
at 08:56 on October 11th, 2008
My husband and I took his parents on an Alaskan cruise in July 2008. (We would have preferred to be in kayaks, viewing the incredible scenery, but this wasn't a trip for us!!)
While cruising in front of the beautiful Hubbard glacier, the crowd of passengers cheered each time the glacier calved. I don't think they comprehended what was truly taking place.....
kmcclish has contributed a photo to this story.