Posted on 04/07/2010 4:44:21 PM PDT by LouAvul
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.
The park's glaciers have been slowly melting away since about 1850, when the centuries-long Little Ice Age ended. They once numbered as many as 150, and 37 of those glaciers eventually were named.
A glacier needs to be 25 acres to qualify for the title.
If it shrinks any smaller, it does not always stop moving right away. A smaller mass of ice on a steep slope would still continue to grind its way through the Rocky Mountains.
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.
I am past ready to go LoL
I only got one night and one day there.
I didn’t want to be greedy.
Exactly. Our ancestors adjusted and migrated to deal with these changes but global walarmists seem to think the world revolves around them.
Is this story based on a study from last fall?
Because the mountain snow in glacier national park has not melted this spring yet so there is no way to say any glacier has melted.
And what are they going to call glacier national park once the glaciers are all melted?
ROTHBARD & RUCKER: Global warming's weak links
Global Warming on Free Republic
“In 10,000 more years, it will be different again.”
But, if we tax and spend enough money on carbon offsets, we can keep this beautiful park just as it is before evil men came up with the internal combustion engine.
No? Gee, I thought the science was settled.
And there'd be no Great Lakes, no Yosemite National Park, no Ireland, no Scotland, no Canada....well, you get the picture.
Surprising that they would notice the glaciers to be missing so early the spring.
Melt happens.
Doesn't fit the liberal script...
I'm using them right now. I'll give them back when I'm finished with them.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.