By Kacee Saturay, Donor Stewardship ad Social Media Manager
Glaciers are natural wonders that have fascinated scientists and outdoor enthusiasts alike for centuries. These massive rivers of ice hold information about the region’s hydrologic, ecologic, and geologic systems and provide valuable insights into how our climate is changing today. About 65% of all glaciated terrain in the contiguous United States is found in Washington and most are within all three national parks! How lucky are we?
Mount Rainier is the most glaciated peak in the lower 48, including the Nisqually Glacier, which is perhaps the most visited and best-surveyed glacier on the mountain. Due to easy access from Paradise, the glacier has been studied since the mid-1850s. In late September of 2022, Washington’s National Park Fund Board Member Mitch Pittman and I had the opportunity to join members of the park’s aquatics team for their seasonal trip to the Nisqually glacier to monitor how it has changed year over year.
We visited various monitoring sites, which have stakes buried in the ice and serve as reference points for measuring snow accumulation during winter and melt occurring during summer, also known as Glacier Mass Balance. By measuring the changes in these sites, the team can estimate the glacial volume change and the overall health of the glacier.
As we walked along the Nisqually Glacier with the team’s science technicians, Sam Carter and Shannon Hagen, they shared some of the challenges they face in measuring glacier melt accurately. Not only is the surface area of the glacier retreating, but the glacier is deflating, which means it is shrinking vertically similar to a flat tire, making it difficult to determine the exact amount of ice lost. The glacier mass balance program attempts to capture both the change in surface area and the vertical shrinking, which is critical to understanding total glacier change. Shannon explains, “we can measure how much snow we have and we can measure how much ice we have left at the end of the summer.”
They can rely on historic photos and markers on the valley walls to estimate the glacier’s height in the past and compare it to the present. However, even with these methods, the amount of ice lost each year is staggering and hard to comprehend. This highlights the complexities of studying glaciers and the urgent need for more accurate methods to measure their changes.
Glacier research is not only about understanding our planet’s past and present climate, but it also has major implications for our future. Although the mountain is the most glaciated peak in the lower 48, Mount Rainier has lost 40% of its glacier area since the 1900’s. And the rate is accelerating: 12% of that loss happened between 1994 and 2015. These glaciers are true icons of the Pacific Northwest, but they’re not considered precious just for the scenery they bring us – it’s the glacier-fed ecosystems they support that makes them so important. Mount Rainier’s 29 named glaciers are giant reservoirs of cold fresh water that feed lakes and streams during hot and dry summers and periods of drought. They offer a buffer against low flow and high temperatures, adding stability to aquatic ecosystems throughout the park and producing large quantities of the water that agriculture – and human populations in Washington – rely on.
Shannon shared that some lower elevation glaciers, like the Williwakas and Stevens on the south side, have disappeared almost completely. On Mount Rainier, its 30 square miles of glaciers are offering a glimpse at how warming temperatures are changing “The Mountain” over time.
“They are really great indicators of changing climate… so it’s really important to get this data and a lot of these studies wouldn’t happen without the funding from people like Washington’s National Park Fund.” – Sam Carter, Science Technician
Though we left the park that day feeling a little deflated, much like the glacier itself, we were also excited to help tell the story of Mount Rainier’s glaciers through this footage and help others understand the importance of these perennial bodies of snow and ice.
Research is essential for advancing our understanding of glaciers and their role in environmental changes, and it’s only possible thanks to resolute scientists like Shannon and Sam, who brave the challenging conditions of the glaciers to collect data and unravel the information that these glaciers hold. While it might feel like there’s nothing we can do to make a difference in the face of these enormous changes, we all have a role to play, and supporting projects like glacier research in Mount Rainier National Park is a good start.
You can help science and research projects like this that study and inform the effects of climate change in Washington’s national parks, by donating to Washington’s National Park Fund, the official philanthropic partner to Mount Rainier, North Cascades, and Olympic National Parks. With your help, we raise private support to keep these parks strong and vital now and forever, for everyone. Support projects like this one by making a donation that will have a positive impact on the parks.
Photos and video courtesy of WNPF Board Member, Mitch Pittman