“That’s western New York weather for you,” is a phrase I’ve often heard growing up in this area, as our weather seems to change pretty frequently throughout any given week and sometimes even within a day. Being accustomed to how the weather in this part of the state changes by the hour, I’ve gotten into the habit of checking the weather in the morning before I head out the door. The other morning as I was taking a look at accuweather, my typical weather go-to site, I saw an article about Alaska’s shrinking glaciers. Having taken a trip to Alaska within the past year, my interest in the article was sparked so I took a closer look.
The Novatak and East Novatak glaciers in 1987. Credit: NASA Earth Observatory
While the topic of global climate change is nothing new, this article was an interesting read as it touched on the effects of warming temperatures on the wild state’s many glaciers, including ones that are unreachable by any means other than a plane or satellite imagery. Inaccessible or not, these large, icy behemoths throughout Alaska cannot hide from the effects of climate change. With about 4% of the 663,300 square foot state covered in ice and enough glaciers to make up the size of several states within the lower 48, trends of higher annual temperatures, decreased amount of snowfall and the resulting loss of mass in the various glaciers and ice fields have been hard to ignore. Accumulating snowfall within the ice fields fuel the flow of the glaciers that grind their way down the mountain valleys, reaching their toes to glacial lakes or bays below. Just to put it into perspective, the mountains and ice field within the Wrangell St. Elias National Park and Preserve (in southeastern Alaska) receives an average of 60 feet of snow each year, that’s roughly 500 inches more snow than we receive here in lake effect snow country! Although that seems like that would be plenty of snow to keep the glaciers going, this amount has lessened within recent decades and is continuing to lessen, providing reduced amounts of compactable snow and ice that eventually forms these giants.
Take a closer look at this image, can you see how the glaciers have retreated? Credit: NASA Earth Observatory
One of our first stops in Alaska was Portage Glacier in the Chugach National Forest. It was a beautiful scene with the Chugach mountains as the backdrop and the cold, still ice covered Portage Lake before us. It was the expected landscape we came to see, but something was missing: the glacier. According various geological studies, Portage Glacier has both advanced and retreated within the past 300 or so years. However, within the past 100 years it has been retreating roughly 184 feet per year, making its way back to the corner of the lake, hidden behind the mountains. It appears to be resting in place there, with glacial ice flow still occurring, but the warming temperatures in Alaska certainly aren’t helping it.
Portage Glacier (or lack there of) at the Chugach National Forest
Another glacier we visited was Exit Glacier fed from the Harding ice field in the Kenai Fjords National Park. A project done, I believe by a master’s student years ago, mapped the major retreats of the glacier. At each point of retreat, a sign was placed in the park with the approximated year of its movement. This was quite striking as we moved from the parking lot, down the trail and eventually to the glacier seeing all these signs dating back into the 1800’s, demonstrating where the terminus of the glacier once sat. Water was quickly racing past us as ice melted off the glacier and moved into the braided streams below. To see something that immense and realize the possibility of it disappearing into the mountains like Portage Glacier, and know that a lot of what is unseen will be effected in similar ways was a bit uneasy to say the least. While I got the chance to see it, will generations after me have the same awe inspiring opportunity?
Exit Glacier in the Kenai Fjords National Park. As you can see, 88 years ago the glacier extended quite a bit further than it does today.
Here at home in western New York, the effects of climate change on the glaciers in Alaska and elsewhere are out of sight and out of mind, for most people anyway. And even here in this little corner of the state, we aren’t seeing warming temperatures but rather much colder. So who’s to say climate change is really a big deal? In all honesty, before my trip, I didn’t think much of it. I had learned about it in school, sure, but not realizing the various changes around me didn’t make me think there was an immediate concern. I definitely think that the earth goes through its own natural cycles, but I don’t think we are making things any easier for our dynamic planet. As the Pacific Ocean warms and jet streams shift, the temperatures are rising and impacting Alaskan winters and snowfall. The wildlife have definitely noticed changes and as a result mass migrations have shifted, such as in birds and caribou. Changes within the western part of the country cause changes in our area too, i.e. polar vortex. As mentioned it previous posts on our website, some places are warming while others are clearly getting colder.
This was the scene much of this past winter. Although its not unusual to have snow, the continuous temperatures in the negatives weren’t too typical.
While you may or may not mind the cold, we should think a little bit more about what is going on with our weather. Although we may feel as though climate change doesn’t have any life changing effects, it does stress the natural environment that provides countless services for us. Not to sound doom and gloom but if things really get out of whack we could end up spending a lot more money to protect our homes from intensifying storms, or keep back the flood waters or fires that seem to be the major stresser this summer in particular. Although it may be overwhelming to try to save the entire planet, the best thing we can do is simply make wise decisions about the use of our local environment and its resources. One person at a time can make a difference whether it is seen or unseen.
Elyse Henshaw
Conservation Technician
