Glaciers Peak Research Paper

When President Taft created Glacier National Park in 1910, it had about 150 glaciers. Since then, the number has decreased to less than 30, and those remaining have shrunk by two-thirds. Dr. Daniel Fagre (2015) predicts that within the next 30 years most if not all of the park's glaciers will melt. Glacier National Park is not the only place effected. The snow on Kilimanjaro has melted more than 80 percent since 1912. Glaciers at the Garhwal Himalaya in India are melting so fast that researchers believe that most central and eastern Himalayan glaciers could disappear by 2035. Greenlands coastal glaciers have melted to the point of no return. “These peripheral glaciers and ice caps can be thought of as colonies of ice that are in rapid decline,

Glacier National Park, located in Northwestern Montana, is an astounding spectacle of history and beauty. Not simply just the history of the Native Americans and European-descended settlers that call the area their home, but also the geologic history of the Earth. The region is known for the beautiful scenery that can be seen from anywhere in the park. Large, steep mountains rise out of deep, lake-filled valleys and thick conifer forests open up into grassy, flower filled meadows. The park is also home to a wide variety of plants and animals. Grizzly bears and mountain goats wander through the forests and rocky cliffs while beargrass flowers light up meadows and evergreens rise high above the valleys below. It is for this beauty and scenery that the region was designated a national park for people to enjoy.

Global warming persists as one of the world’s biggest issues today that is causing several problems that include the world’s severe climate and rising sea levels while possibly being the main cause as to why all of mankind could go extinct. This global crisis is known as the steady increase in the world’s average temperature of the earth’s atmosphere and oceans that are proven to be permanently changing the world’s climate (Live Science, 2014). This phenomenon is strongly evident as Earth’s temperature has also increased by 2 degrees Celsius since the last century. As a result of this, Canadian glaciers are melting at a higher rate of 2 to 3 feet than of what it was a decade before (Lerner, 2014). All astoundingly happening while the Artic Canadian permafrost has begun to melt (Davidson,2015). The state of this issue in Canada does not seem to be improving as validated through both the scientific evidence as well as the blatant and irrefutable observable evidence.

One of the first points Al Gore makes in his speech is that evidence of global warming can be seen everywhere. He says “if you look at glaciers around the world, you see that, many are melting away.” He then provides facts to show possible effects that could happen in the future. Al Gore explains that “ninety-five percent” of fresh water is “locked up” as ice in the Antarctic. In his speech he continues to explain that if the world continues to warm up, the ice will continue to melt causing the sea level to rise drastically, which could permanently flood some coastal cities. He then warns that glaciers reflect most of the sun energy “like a big mirror.” If the glaciers continue to melt the sun’s energy wouldn’t bounce back and will cause more evaporation and eventually precipitation which could lead to a large increase of powerful storms. “You get

Ice Mountain is a place of beauty and rarity. All four of the systems of the earth, the geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere, helped to contribute to make Ice Mountain the rare astounding piece of our collective geoheritage that it has become. Ice Mountain’s creation and uses helps make it one of the most interesting and important mountains in West Virginia that has been impacted by many earth systems throughout history. Ice Mountain is very important to the biosphere. It provides habitats for breeding warblers, thrushers, vireos, as well as several other important types of birds. It also carries several species of arboreal plants from starflowers to hemlocks. Eastern hemlocks help to cool the ice vents, which help to cool the mountain and give it its name of Ice Mountain.

The melting glaciers and ice caps will have, and in places are already having, major impacts on coastal and inland communities, cause social and economic upheavals, and greatly impact the diversity and distribution of species – not to mention changing the appearance of beloved landscapes. The Earth is hurting in the mountains of Eastern KY and WV, with mountaintop removal practices and the filling of hundreds of miles of headwaters with toxic sludge, and the disease and destruction brought to the lives of the people whose homes and heritage are found there. We see it hurting in the Amazon region, the world’s largest and most diverse forest, which is predicted to be 50% gone by 2050 – almost unimaginable.

Mammoth Mountain has no shortage of extremely fun activities. From skiing to snowboarding - hiking, biking and

Mendenhall Glacier is the most recent environmental victim of a warmer planet. First measured in 1911, the glacier has receded by more than 2900 meters (Braasch, G. 2011). The marvelous thing about glaciers is that they can regenerate their mass through snowfall, but they can lose their mass due to sublimation, water evaporating from the ice, and melting. Sadly, this isn’t the case anymore as the summers out heat whatever the glaciers had tried to regenerate during the winters. Since 1980, glaciers on average have melted 17 meters of water (“NOAA Climate.gov”. 2017). When glaciers melt, the resulting water adds to overall volume of the ocean. According to The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the global average of rising sea levels has been 3.4 millimeters a year since 1993 (“NOAA Climate.gov”. 2017). Before 1993, the average rise of sea level a year was only at

Towards the end of November 2014, New York Times released a staggering statistic regarding the glacial formations of the Glacier National Park, situated in the Rocky Mountains of Montana. What was once a resplendent 150 ice sheets mounted along the Canadian Cordillera just a century ago, had shrunk to a diminutive, possibly, 25 sheets. A staggering 16.6 percent of what had previously existed. Back in 2013, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released that the levels of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide and methane, occupying the earths atmosphere have reached heights that haven't existed in at least 800,000 years. To further the exigence of reform, the IPCC had also stated that this immediate climate change was indeed the result of human behavior. This statistical information confounded me, bringing to mind the degree of revision in lifestyle and deforestation that must be duly addressed as a nation. Sea animals are directly affected as a result of human negligence regarding Global Climate change. Sea turtle eggs face a parlous predicament with the rising sand temperatures, exceeding the optimal 34 degrees Celsius, required for standard incubation. Animals and humans alike are promptly affected by the rise of Global Climate Change.

What causes the melting of glaciers is global warming and the heat which is continuing to rise. Global warming is causing the heat to rise over these years, because we are burning more fossil fuels and greenhouse gases, which invent more heat that gets trapped in the atmosphere of earth. The three sources that contributes to the problem I’m investigating are: The Consequences of Global Warming on Glaciers and and Sea Levels, Global Warming puts the arctic in thin ice, and lastly Global Warming is causing rain to melt the Greenland ice sheet.

It provides graphs and illustrations of the glaciers and the alteration they’ve experienced because of the temperature rise. It goes on to explain in full detail of the causes and consequences of global warming on Earth. He wraps up the article by providing options to deal with the crisis which is to mitigate, adapt and suffer and the steps needed for each action to be implemented. The source

As time progresses more and more emissions are expelled into our atmosphere. While this happens at the current rate, our world begins to warm and the climates begin to change. One of the largest impacts we see in our world is glaciers retreating at a pace that seems unstoppable. As the glaciers retreat we see the surrounding ecosystems changing with them. The water put off into the oceans impacts not only molecules in the water but the life within it. As glaciers retreat more and more questions arise but one pressing factor is how it is affecting entire surrounding regions. It is questionable to see if some species are adapting to the receding of glaciers or if populations are directly impacted. Since glaciers play a huge role in the environment, it can only be predicted that it will impact many species dramatically. This can be predicted because of the noticeable change in the ecosystems around them. Glaciers hold a huge mass that not only covers large areas of land but shapes and changes the landscape. Since Prince William Sound has so many glaciers feeding into its region it is an ideal area to observe.. Since glaciers are such influential masses in our environment it can be predicted that their retreat has direct impact in their region.

A 2007 report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) stated that the Himalayan glaciers were rapidly eroding and could dissipate as early as 2035. The global scientific community and the millions of residents in South East Asia that depend on the glacier's reservoirs for survival spent the next several years anticipating the effects of the change in global temperature that was deemed the cause of the dilemma.

Climate change is a real issue today and now that can actually be seen in many places. You can physically witness it in places such as Colorado, where the Colorado River is slowly drying up. Many rivers across the world face this same exact problem. It is obvious that we humans suffer from the changes in the climate around the world. However, we are not the only ones. The surrounding ecology of the areas affected by climate change will also be damaged. We will see a large change or erasing of the ecosystems around us. Being an animal/nature lover in this day and age is a hard task indeed. Thankfully many countries right now are taking action to deal a blow to climate change. In fact, there was a recent meeting in France, where multiple countries took a pledge to reduce carbon emissions in their respective locations. One has to ask

I feel that global warming is taking place due to the human beings influence of the earth. When I say influence I mean the use of fossil fuels, aerosols and other hazardous devices that humans have derived for comforts. These chemicals that are being used have and continuously harmed the environment, not just with global warming, but the pollution of our natural resources Now we the human race is suffering the effects of global warming that is causing the melting of ice glaciers. Glaciers that have been in existences for hundreds and are now subject to the greenhouse effect. The chemicals used for our everyday lives and the pollution caused from such uses have not only directly impacted the earth’s environment, it has caused the melting of ice glaciers that are hundreds years old or more. In my opinion, glaciers that have been on this earth for that long do no simply melt due to the cycle of the earth’s natural weather patterns. There are multiple facts to support my opinion, but in this case I will only reveal the three that I think are the most substantial to support my point. First, “carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere are increasing” (Mulvaney 2013). This aspect is undisputable in the science community considering that the levels have increased dramatically even over the past decade. Second, the “Arctic Sea ice is in a Death Spiral” (Mulvaney 2013). The ice in the Arctic Sea, and many other parts of the world, is vanishing at an alarming rate.