From a Glacier's Perspective

August 31, 2017

Blackfoot Glacier, Glacier National Park Slow Recession Indicates Persistence

Comparison of Blackfoot Glacier in August Landsat images from 1998, 2015 and 2017 Blackfoot Glacier is the second largest glacier in Glacier National Park in Montana. The glacier is on the north side of Mount Blackfoot and is close to two other glaciers Harrison and Jackson. Glacier National Park over the last decade has initiated and maintained an extensive glacier monitoring program led by Dan Fagre. This program has led …

May 22, 2011

Hopper Glacier Retreat, will not survive

The Hopper Glacier is in the Beartooth Range of southwest Montana. The glacier is on the east side of Medicine Mountain and Sky Pilot Mountain. In 1966 the glacier in the USGS map ended at a lake marked simply as 10183 feet. The red line marks the mapped glacier boundary. The glacier comprise two parts, one from beneath Medicine Mountain that was smaller, and the larger section below Sky Pilot. …

March 31, 2011

Old Sun Glacier Glacier National Park slow retreat

In Glacier National Park, MT all glaciers have been retreating. From 1850 to the present the number of glaciers has been reduced from 150 to 25. There are a few glacier such as Old Sun Glacier that have been retreating quite slowly since 1966 when the USGS maps were completed and are not disappearing anytime soon. Old Sun Glacier faces northeast and terminates at 8200 feet. This is a higher …

April 8, 2010

Harrison Glacier, Glacier National Park Slow Recession

There continues to be a persistent misconception that all glaciers in Glacier National Park will be gone by 2030, I get asked that by journalists frequently and when I point out that is not the case they are surprised. An examination of 15 Glacier National Park glaciers using the recently published Alpine Glacier Survival Forecast method, indicates that 10 of the 15 glaciers are experiencing a disequilibrium response and will …