You are browsing the archive for climate change glacier retreat Archives - Page 4 of 9 - From a Glacier's Perspective.
July 31, 2016
Thirty-third Annual North Cascade Glacier Climate Project Field Season Underway
Base Map of the region showing main study glaciers, produced by Ben Pelto. From President Reagan to President Obama each August since 1984 I have headed to the North Cascade Range of Washington to measure the response of glaciers to climate change. Specifically we will measure the mass balance of nine glaciers, runoff from three glaciers and map the terminus change on 12 glaciers. The data is reported to the …
July 28, 2016
Sater Glacier, Alaska Not Retaining Snowcover
2012 Google Earth Image. Purple arrows indicate areas where the margin is receding well above the lowest terminus. Sater Glacier is in the Okpilak River watershed of the Brooks Range, Alaska. It is named for John Sater an early geologist working in the Brooks Range and on the nearby McCall Glacier. Here we examine Landsat imagery from 1987-2016 to identify changes in the glacier. Matt Nolan, U. Alaska-Fairbanks, has provided links to the …
July 21, 2016
Sjögren Glacier Fast Flow, Fast Retreat, Antarctica
Sjögren Glacier comparison in Landsat images from 2001 and 2016, red dots indicate terminus position, Point A, B, C and D are in fixed locations. Sjögren Glacier flows east from the northern Antarctic Peninsula and prior to the 1980’s was a principal feeder glacier to Prince Gustav Ice Shelf. This 1600 square kilometer ice shelf disintegrated in the mid-1990’s and was gone in 1995 (Cook and Vaughan, 2010). Scambos et al (2014) …
July 18, 2016
Chaupi Orko Glaciers, Bolivia Extensive Recession
Landsat comparison of the Chaupi Orko Glaciers from 1988, 1999 and 2015. Red arrows indicate 1988 terminus and yellow arrows the 2015 terminus location. Chaupi Orko is a 6044 m Andean peak in the Cordillera Apolobamba on the Peru-Bolivia border with glaciers radiating from it summit. Here we examine a pair of glaciers on the southern side of the mountain that drain into Laguna Suches, which is split by the …
June 29, 2016
Conducting Long Term Annual Glacier Monitoring
Easton Glacier in 1990, 2003 and 2015 from same location. Below Painting by Jill Pelto of crevasse assessment using a camline. This is the story of how you develop and conduct a long term glacier monitoring program. We have been monitoring the annual mass balance of Easton Glacier on Mount Baker, a stratovolcano in the North Cascade Range, Washington since 1990. This is one of nine glaciers we are continuing to …
June 21, 2016
Chutanjima Glacier Retreat & High Snowline, Tibet, China 1991-2015
A comparison of three Tibet glaciers in 1988, 1991 and 2015 Landsat images. Red arrows are the 1988 terminus position, yellow arrow the 2015 terminus location and purple dots the snowline in late October 2015. U=unnamed, CH=Chutanjima Glacier and MO=Mogunong Glacier: which did not retreat significantly and lacks a red arrow. A recent European Space Agency Sentinel-2A image of southern Tibet, China and Sikkim illustrated three very similar glaciers extending …
June 17, 2016
Brady Glacier, Alaska 2016 Early Melt Season & Lake Expansion
Comparison of Brady Glacier in 1986 and 2016 Landsat images. The snowline is similar in May 2016 and August 1986. Lakes noted are: A=Abyss, B=Bearhole, D=Dixon, N=North Deception, O=Oscar, Sd=South Dixon, Sp=Spur, T=Trick. Brady Glacier, is a large Alaskan tidewater glacier, in the Glacier Bay region that is beginning a period of substantial retreat Pelto et al (2013). In 2016 the melt season has been intense for the Brady Glacier in …
June 7, 2016
Bailang Glacier and Angge Glacier Retreat, China 1995-2015
Comparison of 1995 and 2015 Landsat image illustrating 1995 (red arrows) and 2015 terminus locations (yellow arrows) of Bailang Glacier (B) and Angge Glacier (A). Purple arrows indicate areas upglacier of expanding bedrock due to glacier thinning. Head of Chubda Glacier (C), Bhutan indicated. Bailang Glacier and Angge Glacier, China are adjacent to the Chubda Glacier, Bhutan. Despite being in a different nation on a different side of the Himalaya, the …
June 2, 2016
Chubda Glacier Retreat, Bhutan 1995-2015
Chubda Glacier comparison in 1995 and 2015 images. Red arrow indicates 1995 terminus location and yellow arrow is 2015 terminus location. Pink arrows indicate areas upglacier of expanding bedrock. Green arrow indicates moraine areas amidst the lake. The orange arrow indicates a secondary glacier. Chubda Glacier, Bhutan drains south from Chura Kang on the Bhutan/China border. The glacier terminates in Chubda Tsho, a glacier moraine dammed lake, Komori (2011) notes …
May 23, 2016
Bernardo Glacier, Patagonia, Chile Accelerated Retreat in Expanding Lake Complex
Comparison of 1986 and 2015 Landsat image of Bernardo Glaciers three termini, north, main and south. Red arrows indicate 1986 terminus location and yellow arrows the 2016 terminus location. Indicating the substantial retreat of each terminus and lake expansion for the north and main terminus, while the lake drained at the southern terminus. Bernardo Glacier is a difficult to reach outlet glacier on the west side of the Southern Patagonia …
Dean of Academic Affairs at Nichols College and Professor of Environmental Science at Nichols College in Massachusetts since 1989. Glaciologist directing the North Cascade Glacier Climate Project since 1984. This project monitors the mass balance and behavior of more glaciers than any other in North America.