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September 10, 2023
Lilliehöökbreen, Svalbard Calving Retreat and Separation 2000-2023
Lilliehöökbreen terminus in 2000 was a continuous 11 km front fed by the tributary glaciers Supan (S), Hellman (H), Bjorlykke (B), Kutte (K), Darboux (D), Becqueret (Be), Cailletet (C), Bruckner (Br) and Forbes (F). By 2023 the continuous front was 8 km long having separated from Supan, Forbes, and Bruckner. Landsat images from 2000 and 2023 indicate a 2.5 km retreat resulting in a ~17 km² fjord expansion. Lilliehöökbreen is …
September 7, 2023
35th Consecutive Year of Alpine Glacier Loss-in State of Climate 2022
For the 14th year I had the opportunity to author the Alpine Glacier section of the State of the Climate 2022 report published in the Bulletin of the American Meteorolocial Society. Below is this report with additional images. An increasing frequency of heat waves impacting glaciated mountain ranges continues to lead to large mass balance losses. In 2022 heat events in the European Alps, Svalbard, High Mountain Asia and the …
August 26, 2023
Allen Glacier, Alaska Terminus Tongue Breakoff 8-21-2023
Allen Glacier terminus in Landsat image from 8-21-2023 indicating the three new icebergs with an area of 1.5 km² that calved. Lake area is now 14 km². Allen Glacier drains east from the Chugach Mountains terminating in an expanding proglacial lake adjacent to the Copper River. In 1987 the terminus filled most of the proglacial with only the northeast corner open, lake area 2 km². A landslide is also evident …
August 24, 2023
Collapse of the Glacier Complex on Mount Daniel-Hinman, Washington
Jill Pelto Sketches the demise of Ice Worm Glacier August 13, 2023. In 1984, as the North Cascade Glacier Climate Project began, the largest concentration of glaciers between Mount Rainier and Glacier Peak was on Mount Daniel-Hinman; Daniels, Foss, Hinman, Ice Worm and Lynch Glacier. Hence, I felt these glaciers were worth monitoring. Now in August 2023, we just finished our 40th annual survey of these glaciers and they have …
August 19, 2023
Hall Peninsula Ice Cap, Baffin Island Retains No Snowcover in 2023 Fosters Fragmentation
Hall Peninsula Ice Cap east of Popham Bay is snow free on 8-14-2023. Comparison of Landsat images from 2014 and 2023 arrows indicate four locations where the ice cap is fragmenting and at each Point D is an emerging/expanding bedrock area amidst the ice cap. Hall Peninsula is host to many glaciers and ice caps, almost all unnamed. Here we examine the largest ice cap on the Peninsula using Landsat …
July 29, 2023
40th Field Season of North Cascade Glacier Climate Project Underway
Illustration by Megan Pelto of key numbers behind what it takes to undertake a 40 year field study on glaciers. For the 40th consecutive summer the North Cascade Glacier Climate Project is heading into the field to measure and communicate the impact of climate change on North Cascade glaciers. This field season follows the 2021 and 2022 seasons that featured a historic heat wave and periods of extended warm weather. …
July 26, 2023
Mount Baker Glacier’s Perspective on Climate Change 1984-2022-Disastrous!
Camp above Coleman Glacier on Heliotrope Ridge, (Jill Pelto painting) Mount Baker is the most glaciated peak and highest mountain in the North Cascade Range at 3286 m. The Nooksack Indian Tribe refers to this strato volcano as Komo Kulshan, the great white (smoking) watcher. Mount Baker has 12 significant glaciers that covered 42 km2 in 1984 and ranged in elevation from 1320 m to 3250 m. Kulshan watches over …
July 16, 2023
Isortuarsuup Sermia Lake Drainage September 2022
Isortuarsuup Sermia ice dammed lake drains between 9-9-2022 and 9-19-2022. The lake area on 9-9-2022 is 29 km². False color Sentinel images illustrate. Isortuarsuup Sermia terminates in Isortuarsuup Tasia on the west margin of the Greenland Ice sheet at 63.8 N W. The glacier dams a proglacial lake that when full has had an elevation of 710 m, and has been observed to periodically drain from 1937-2011 (Geological Survey of …
July 13, 2023
Loss of Conrad Glacier, Goat Rocks Wilderness, WA
Conard Glacier looking south across Conrad Lake in 1993. Glacier terminates 193 m from lake. In 1993 we surveyed the glaciers of the Goat Rocks Wilderness, Washington. Conrad Glacier was our main focus, we worked with a field class from Pacific Lutheran University to measure snowpack, area and runoff from the glacier. In 1958 the glacier reached Conrad Lake and had an area of 0.5 km². In 1993 at our …
July 9, 2023
Baird Glacier, Alaska Retreat Generates Proglacial Lake
Baird Glacier on 8-11-1990 and 7-6-2023 Landsat images indicating initiaton of retreat and formation of proglacial lake (PGL). The lake is now 3.25 km², retreat has been 2600 m since 1990-yellow dots indicate margin. Baird Glacier drains the west side of the Stikine Icefield in southeast Alaska. It is the only glacier of the Stikine Iceifield that did not retreat significantly from 1960-2010. Pelto et al (2013) predicted the onset …
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.