Graph of the Day: Mass Balance of Pacific NW and Alaska Glaciers, 1958-2004

Cumulative net balance of South Cascade, Wolverine, and Gulkana Glaciers (Josberger and others, 2007). Densities of snow and ice differ considerably and before glacier-average thickness changes in each material can be summed to the net balance, the changes must be converted to a common basis. By custom, the common basis is “meters water equivalent” (MWEQ), which is the thickness of water that would result from melting a given thickness of snow or ice.

Fifty-Year Record of Glacier Change Reveals Shifting Climate in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska, USA via TreeHugger