(T. J. Hileman, GNP Archives, 1938)
The second was taken of the Glacier in the year 2016.
(Dan Fagre, USGS, 2016)
Lastly, we have a web capture of the Glacier taken from a Google Maps satellite view from 2019.
(Google Maps, 2019)
(Google Maps, 2019)
Problem
The issue that comes with glaciers lies within its correlation to the weather and our ever-evolving environment. These problems could go as deep as discussing the involvement of climate change and global warming. But beliefs aside, there is no denying the visual changes happening to our hydrosphere and cryosphere. As discussed in module 2.2, glaciers can reflect sunlight, which make it hard to preserve its frozen state for as long as possible. Glacial ice also affects the global heat transport. Between the various seasons of droughts, rain, and snowfall, there's no doubt that the Glacial preservation would be at jeopardy. Glaciers are actually a huge indicator of climate change because their physical changes, whether they are growing or shrinking, advancing or receding, they provide visible evidence of changes in temperature and precipitation. If glaciers lose more ice than they can collect through new snowfall, they eventually proceed to add more water to the oceans, leading to a rise in the sea level. And between the various seasons of annual droughts, rain, and snowfall, there's no doubt that the Glacial preservation would be at jeopardy.
Explanation
Due to its high altitude and narrow standpoint, the Grinnell Glacier is considered as an Alpine Glacier. Which, of course, mean that it will move a few centimeters each day. They usually grow up top while it's easier to melt and break off at its lower elevations. Coming from the National Park Service website, "Grinnell Glacier lost 113 acres between 1966 and 2015. The Howe Ridge fire burned thousands of acres in a few hours on August 12, 2018. Glacier National Park is warming at nearly two times the global average and the impacts are already being felt by park visitors. (NPS, May 19, 2022)" When observing the photos above, there is a noticeable growth in the body of water surrounding the Grinnell Glacier. More of the rock underneath the ice is exposed in comparison to the original photo. However, I will say, comparing the 2016 and 2019 photo, the difference isn't as drastic. So, although the sun makes it inevitable to experience such changes, the Grinnell might not have it as bad as the others.
References
“Climate Change.” National Parks Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, https://home.nps.gov/glac/learn/nature/climate-change
EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/snow-ice.
“Glacier Repeat Photos.” National Parks Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, https://www.nps.gov/glac/learn/nature/glacier-repeat-photos.htm.
Google Maps. (2019). Grinnell Glacier, Montana. Retrieved from https://goo.gl/maps/mAR2cfsrY4s6LaMQA
“Glacier Repeat Photos.” National Parks Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, https://www.nps.gov/glac/learn/nature/glacier-repeat-photos.htm.
T. J. Hileman, GNP Archives, (1938), Dan Fagre, USGS, (2016) Left and right aerial view of the Grinnell Glacier.
No comments:
Post a Comment