By 2070, the glaciers on the Olympic Peninsula, in Washington State, will have largely disappeared, said Andrew G. Fountain, professor of geology and geography at Portland State University, who led a team of researchers on the subject.
By 2070, the glaciers on the Olympic Peninsula, in Washington State, will have largely disappeared, said Andrew G. Fountain, professor of geology and geography at Portland State University, who led a team of researchers on the subject. Although some glaciers will probably remain — albeit as tiny shells of their former selves.
Fountain’s study was recently published in the Journal of Geophysical Research, Earth Surface in an article titled “Glaciers of the Olympic Mountains, Washington – the past and future 100 years.” Since about 1900 the region has lost half of its glacier area and since 1980, 35 glaciers and 16 perennial snowfields have disappeared.
“There’s little we can do to prevent the disappearance of these glaciers,” Fountain said. “We’re on this global warming train right now. Even if we're super good citizens and stop adding carbon dioxide in the atmosphere immediately, it will still be 100 years or so before the climate responds.”
Even though preventing glacier melt at the hand of global warming isn’t in the cards, ensuring things don’t get worse is a critical goal, Fountain said.
“This is yet another tangible call out for us to take climate change seriously and take actions to minimize our climate impact,” he added.
Read more at: Portland State University
Blue Glacier in 2007 (Photo Credit: John Scurlock)
