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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 …
February 16, 2015
Chickamin Glacier Retreat, North Cascade Range, Washington
Chickamin Glacier covers the north slope of Sinister Peak in the North Cascade Range of Washington. The glacier has a valley tongue that descends to an outwash plain. Here we examine retreat of the glacier from 1979 to 2012. The glacier had advanced from 1955-1975, before commencing retreat. Chickamin Glacier (John Scurlock 2004 Aerial shot, https://pbase.com/nolock/image/49374401) USGS Map of Chickamin Glacier In 1979 the glacier terminus was at the pink …
January 9, 2015
Anderson Glacier, Olympic Mountains, Washington Disappears
Anderson Glacier was the headwaters of the Quinault River in the Olympic Mountains of Washington. A century ago the glacier was 2 km long, and a half kilometer wide. Retreat of this glacier in the first half of the 20th century exposed a new alpine lake as the glacier retreated 1 kilometer. From 1950-1980 the glacier diminished slowly. From 1959 to 1990 the glacier thinned and retreated from the shore …
November 28, 2012
Dusty Glacier, Glacier Peak, WA
In the 1990’s the North Cascade Glacier Climate Project undertook a study of all the glaciers around Glacier Peak, one century after they had been first observed by C.E. Rusk. This post focuses on one of those glaciers, Dusty Glacier on the Northeast side of the peak. In 1940 J.B. Richardson of the Forest Service photographed many North Cascade glaciers surrounding Glacier Peak. From 1946-1958 William Long, of the Forest …
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.