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July 8, 2010
The Lower Curtis Glacier on Mount Shuksan advanced from 1950-1975 and has retreated 150 meters from 1987-2009. A longitudinal profile up the middle of the glacier indicates that it thinned 30 meters from 1908-1984 and 10 m from 1984-2008. Compare the 1908 image taken by Asahel Curtis (glacier named for him) in 1908 and our annual glacier shot in 2003. The thinning has been as large in the accumulation zone …
January 9, 2010
Boulder Glacier Retreat, Mount Baker
Boulder Glacier flows down the west side of Mount Baker a strato volcano in the North Cascades of Washington. This steep glacier responds quickly to climate change and after retreating more than 2 kilometers from its Little Ice Age Maximum, it began to advance in the 1950’s as observed by William Long. The glacier advance had ceased by 1979. From 1988-2008 we (NCGCP) have visited this glacier at least every …
November 25, 2009
Grasshopper Glacier, Montana-nearly gone
Grasshopper Glacier, the largest is located about 19 km. north of Cook, Montana within Custer National Forest. The glacier on Iceberg Peak occupies a north facing cirque at nearly 3300 m. (11,000 ft.). In 1940, it was about 1.6 km. wide and on its northwest side terminated in a 15-m. cliff. In 1966, seen below, the glacier had an area of 0.42 square kilometers. The name of the glacier is …
November 1, 2009
Gilkey Glacier Retreat, Juneau Icefield
Above is a paired Landsat image from 1984 left and 2013 right indicaing the 3200 m retreat during this period of Gilkey Glacier.The Juneau Icefield Research Program has long monitored the mass balance of the Lemon Creek and Taku Glacier on the Juneau Icefield. This program begun by Maynard Miller in 1946 and continuing through today has also monitored the terminus behavior of the icefields outlet glaciers. Of the 17 …
September 14, 2009
Columbia Glacier year by year
The following pictures give a year by year view of Columbia Glacier within one day of August 1. The best year was 1999, the worst, 2005.The snowy peaks of the Monte Cristo region can be seen from the Everett area. With 30 glaciers many at low altitudes, this region may receive more snow than any other region in the North Cascades. The largest and lowest is Columbia Glacier occupying a …
September 12, 2009
Devon Ice Cap
Two recent papers have examined the changes in flow, mass balance and volume of the Devon Ice Cap(Shepherd et al., 2007) (Dowdeswell, 2004). The Devon Ice Cap on Devon Island in the Canadian Arctic ice cap’s area has an area of 14,000 km2, with a volume of 3980 km3 . The ice cap area decreased by 332 km2 (2.4%) between 1960 and 2000. The mass balance of the glacier has …
September 4, 2009
26th Annual North Cascade Glacier Climate Project 2009 Field Season
This video examines the 2009 North Cascade Glacier Climate Project Field Season. It is a look more at where we work, than what we find. Mass balances were substantial averaging -1.93 m. The winter season was wetter than average, with close to average snowpack in the North Cascades. Summer melt conditions were exceptionally warm, leading to enhanced melting and considerable losses in glacier volume. The mass loss of approximately 2 …
August 20, 2009
Bugaboo Glacier, British Columbia Retreat
Bugaboo Glacier is the most visible glacier of the Bugaboo Range in southern British Columbia. The Conrad Kain Hut who was the first mountaineer to explore the range is adjacent to the glacier and is the main starting point for climbers lured to the region by the fantastic quartz monszonite spires. Since Conrad Kain’s visit in 1910 with the famous mountain explorer Tom Longstaff the Bugaboo Glacier has retreated 2150 …
July 4, 2009
Honeycomb Glacier Retreat, New Lake Formation
Honeycomb Glacier is one of the longest and largest glaciers in the North Cascades. It is currently 3.7 km long and has an area of 3.1 km2. It has retreated 2.05 kilometers since its Little Ice Age Maximum. The glacier was an imposing site to C.E. Rusk who recounted his early 20th century exploration (1924). Like all 47 glaciers observed by the North Cascade Glacier Climate Project it has retreated …
June 30, 2009
Dramatic Retreat of Antler Glacier, Alaska
Above is a pair of Landsat images from 1984 and 2013 indicating the 2600 m retreat of Antler Glacier in that period. Below is a detailed analysis of the glacier. The Antler Glacier is an outlet glacier of the Juneau Icefield. It is actually a distributary glacier of the Bucher Glacier. It splits from the Bucher Glacier 8.5 km above where the Bucher Glacier joins the Gilkey Glacer as a …
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.