You are browsing the archive for glacier climate change Archives - Page 2 of 16 - From a Glacier's Perspective.
September 14, 2020
Leningradskiy Ice Cap Snowcover Vanishes in 2020 More Thinning, Svernaya Zemlya
Leningradskiy Ice Cap north to south strip in 2000 and 2020 Landsat images illustrating thinning leading to separation of parts of the ice cap at Point 1 and 4 and expansion of bedrock leading to merging bedrock regions at Point 1 and 2. R=snow/firnpack saturated with meltwater and consequent potential refreezing. S=superimposed ice development from surface refreezing. Leningradskiy Ice Cap is oriented east to west across Bolshevik Island in the …
August 31, 2020
North Cascade Glacier Climate Project Observations 2020, 37th Field Season
The North Cascade Glacier Climate Project 2020 field season was our 37th consecutive year of glacier observations. The field team consisted of Cal Waichler, Mariama Dryak, Jill Pelto and Mauri Pelto. Each team member has studied glaciers on more than one continent and is passionate about science communication, using either art, videography or writing. Mauri Pelto, Jill Pelto, Cal Waichler and Mariama Dryak from left to right on Easton Glacier …
July 28, 2020
NORTH CASCADE GLACIER CLIMATE PROJECT 2020-37th Annual Field Program
Field season images from 2019 indicating crevasse stratigraphy, annotated by Clara Deck. Director: Mauri S. Pelto, [email protected] College Field Artist & Scientist: Jill Pelto, [email protected] Who we are? NCGCP was founded in 1983 to identify the response of North Cascade glaciers to regional climate change, particularly changes in mass balance, glacier runoff and terminus behavior. NCGCP is a field project that has a broader interdisciplinary scope and examines more glaciers than any …
July 2, 2020
Global Glacier Change Bulletin 3 (WGMS) Reports Increasing Mass Balance Losses
Figure 1. Regionalized mean annual mass balance of WGMS reference glaciers 1980-2018, with 2019 being a mean of reference glaciers. Glaciers have been studied as sensitive indicators of climate for more than a century and are now experiencing a historically unprecedented decline (Zemp et al, 2015). Glacier fluctuations in terminus position, mass balance and area are recognized as one of the most reliable indicators of climate change. This led to …
September 12, 2019
Glacier Crevasses As A learning Tool
Guest Post by Clara Deck Instagram: @scienceisntsoscary Crevasses on mountain glaciers are large cracks in the ice which often propagate from the surface downward. The initial break will happen when stress exceeds the inherent ice material strength. This article will focus on surface crevasses, though this basic physical understanding also applies to basal crevasses or large-scale rifts in ice sheet and shelf settings. In mountain glacier systems, crevassing …
June 14, 2019
Varied Snowcover Extent Diagnostic of Glacier NP Glacier Climate Response
Snowcover extent in Landsat images from August, 1998 and 2018. S=Sperry, H=Harrison, J=Jackson, B=Blackfoot and P=Pumpelly Five of the eight largest glaciers in Glacier National Park are clustered in a small area: Jackson Glacier, Sperry Glacier, Pumpelly Glacier, Harrison Glacier, and Blackfoot Glacier. The USGS in Glacier National Park has over the last 15 years maintained an extensive glacier monitoring program led by Dan Fagre. This program has led to consistent …
January 9, 2019
Drogpa Nagtsang Glacier, China Mass Balance Loss, Separation, Slow Down
Drogpa Nagtsang Glacier change in Landsat image from 1989 and 2018. Yellow arrow indicates 2018 terminus location, red arrow 1989 terminus location, red dot the lowest elevation of clean glacier ice. Points A-E are the same locations for comparison. Drogpa Nagtsang Glacier, China is a glacier that is 30 km west of Mount Everest that terminates in an expanding proglacial lake. The glacier begins on the Nepal border at 6400 …
November 19, 2018
35th Annual Field Observations of North Cascade Glaciers
The 2018 field season observations, conditions and summary. Field team Mariama Dryak, Erin McConnell, Jill Pelto and Mauri Pelto. For the 35th consecutive year I headed to the North Cascade Range, Washington to monitor the response of glaciers to climate change. Two of the glaciers the North Cascade Glacier Climate Project (NCGCP) monitors are now part of the 42 glaciers comprising the World Glacier Monitoring Service (WGMS) reference glacier network, …
August 29, 2018
Major Late July Meltdown on Lowell Glacier, Yukon
Lowell Glacier in Landsat images from 7/4, 7/26 and 8/11 with Sentinel images from 7/22 . The snowline is shown with purple dots. Point A-F are fixed reference locations. The snowline migrated upglacier 20 km and 300 m in elevation. A significant snow swamp is between the yellow and purple dots on 7/26, that was not present on 7/22. The Lowell Glacier drains east from the St.Elias Range on the …
August 1, 2018
Alpine Glacier-BAMS State of the Climate 2017
Global alpine glacier annual mass balance record of reference glaciers submitted to the World Glacier Monitoring Service, with 2017 continuing the trend of significant negative mass balance. The Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: State of the Climate 2017 has been published. Since 2008 I have written the chapter on alpine glaciers. The World Glacier Monitoring Service (WGMS)record of mass balance and terminus behavior (WGMS 2017) provides a global index …
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.