North Cascades Glacier Project

Glacier Facts

-A glacier will form or advance if the yearly snowfall exceeds the yearly melting. A glacier will retreat if the yearly melting exceeds the yearly snowfall.

-Temperatures have risen drastically in recent years, causing the retreat of all glaciers in the North Cascades. Some notable examples are the Paradise Glacier on Mt. Rainier, which is now almost nonexistent, and the South Cascade Glacier next to Sentinel Peak.

-A period called the Neoglaciation existed from about 3,000 B.C. to about 500 B.C. in the North Cascades. In this period of time, many glaciers advanced rapidly and became much more prevalent in the area.

-As glaciers shrink, their runoff decreases, affecting the river ecosystems greatly and preventing valuable water from reaching the forests throughout the entire state.

-Glaciers are almost universally accepted by scientists as one of the most accurate representations of climate change due to their extremely fragile balance of advance and retreat. Even slight changes in temperature can have massive effects on an ecosystem, therefore indicating that climate change is occuring.

-Glacier retreat is happening at an alarming speed, and it is caused by the warming of the environment. This warming leads to the glacier melting and the snow turning into rain, therefore not contributing to the glacier and allowing it to dwindle.

-This warming is most likely caused by humans and pollution. Greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are pumped into the environment by industries, cars, and houses, causing the effect of a magnifying lens on the earth. These chemicals focus the sun's rays and trap them inside the atmosphere, causing for an amplification effect and therefore increasing the temperature.

-No glaciers in the North Cascades seem to be recovering, and the trend is only that the glaciers will continue to melt and retreat, causing devastating effects across the entire state.

North Cascades Glacier Statistics

-North Cascade glaciers on average lost 35-50% of their volume in the past century. Over the last 20 years alone, glaciers in the North Cascades have lost an estimated 18-32% of their volume.

-If the average yearly temperature increases 2*C (3.6*F), 65-75% of North Cascades glaciers will disappear.

-It has increased 0.6*C (1*F) in recent times, causing the massive glacier retreat that is seen in the North Cascades today.

Specific Examples and Retreat Pictures

-The North White Chuck glacier existed for thousands of years as a very dominant glacier, crucial to the river ecosystems and the salmon living in them. By 2001, the glacier had disappeared entirely, affecting the river systems greatly by killing off a large population of the organisms that live in the glacier and become part of the rivers, preventing animals such as salmon from eating.

White Chuck glacier in 1973 (top) and 2006 (bottom)

White Chuck glacier terminus behavior throughout the years

-30 years ago, the Paradise Glacier was well-known for its large ice caves, now completely gone due to massive glacier retreat. 7 miles of trails were mapped throug the ice caves contained in this this glacier. Now it is barely present at all, existing only as a small dot of white against a gigantic area filled with debris and appearing depressingly empty.

-The South Cascade glacier is at its lowest point in over 4,800 years. In the past 50 years alone, it has retreated 1/4 of a mile.

-On Mt. Rainier, the Kautz and South Tahoma glaciers have retreated over half a mile and the Nisqually glacier has thinned more than 65 feet.

-The glaciers on Mt. Baker are suffering greatly from global warming. For example, Easton glacier has thinned 194 feet since 1916. It has also retreated about 7,000 feet, a very drastic change.

-Additionally, Lyman glacier has thinned dramatically and retreated almost 5,000 feet, a 70% decline in the length of the glacier. In the current climate, Lyman glacier is expected to disappear in a few decades.

Cache Col glacier in 1916

Cache Col glacier in 2003

Columbia glacier in 1989

Columbia glacier in 2005

Boston glacier in 1967 (top) and 2005 (bottom)




Lower Curtis glacier in 2003 (left) and 1908 (right)




Honeycomb glacier in 1977 (top) and 2006 (bottom)

Effects of Glacial Retreat

-The consequences of glacial retreat are much more than the simple disappearance of a white field on a mountain. The melting of the North Cascade glaciers is causing massive ecological effects on the river systems throughout the entire state.

-The retreat of the North Cascades glaciers means less glacial runoff. This damages the ecosystems as well as the human water supply, making less and less fresh water available for the environment and for human use. This signifies a decrease in local fish populations and a rise in the cost of water.

-For example, Thunder Creek, fed by glacial runoff, has had a 30% decline in summer stream flow over the past 30 years, which carries massive ecological effects. This decline in stream flow is extremely detrimental to salmon, and poses a large threat to all five native species. The retreat of the North Cascade glaciers is one of the major reasons for the recent plunge in salmon populations.

-Human-induced global warming is a reality, and it is shown dramatically by the retreat of the North Cascade glaciers. There are many large problems caused by this decline in glacier volume that effects both the environment and humans heavily.

-This global warming is caused by greenhouse gases and pollutants, and can be easily minimized by being energy-conscious. If more caution would be taken to help prevent global warming, the glaciers may have a chance to remain the pristine natural wonders that they are.

-However, if nothing is done to stop this, the North Cascade glaciers will almost definitely melt away and die, effectively killing off our fragile ecosystems as well.


References:

Mauri S. Pelto, head of the North Cascades Glacier Climate Project (NCGCP)

http://www.nichols.edu/departments/glacier/

http://www.mountaineers.org/nwmj/07/071_Glaciers.html

http://www.wta.org/magazine/1240.pdf

http://www.planet-action.org/web/6-projects.php?projectID=449

Photos courtesy of NCGCP, originally taken by Mauri Pelto, Leor Pantilat, John Scurlock, Lowell Skoog, Asahel Curtis, Neil Hinckley, Austin Post, and Bill Arundell.