Two more glaciers gone from Glacier National Park

By MATTHEW BROWN, Associated Press Writer BILLINGS, Mont. – Glacier National Park has lost two more of its namesake moving icefields to climate change, which is shrinking the rivers of ice until they grind to a halt, a government researcher said Wednesday. Warmer temperatures have reduced the number of named glaciers in the northwestern Montana park to 25, said Dan Fagre said, an ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey. He warned many of the rest of the glaciers may be gone by the end of the decade. “It’s continual,” Fagre said. “When we’re measuring glacier margins, by the time we go home the glacier is already smaller than what we’ve measured.” The meltoff shows the climate is changing, but does not show exactly what is causing temperatures to go up, Fagre said. … Glacier melting has accelerated in recent decades as global temperatures have increased. Over the past century, Glacier National Park’s mean summer temperature has risen by about 3 degrees Fahrenheit.

2 more glaciers gone from Glacier National Park via The Oil Drum