Goal For The Green

Perhaps ,you are someone who thinks Global Warming or Climate Change is just a fallacy, aimed at getting us to take notice, and change our habits. Well, you are right it is meant for us to take notice, because it is a real fact.

Here is more proof!

In 1850, Glacier National Park, had as many as 150 glaciers. Now, there are only a pitiful 37 named glaciers, that have survived.  Sadly, most if not all, will disappear in the next 10 years. To qualify for the title of a glacier, the slab of ice needs to be at least 25 acres wide.  Of the 37 surviving glaciers, 25 are larger than 25 acres.  Harrison glacier is the largest survivor, at about 465 acres.

It’s true that the glaciers have been slowly melting, over time, since at least 1850. But, in recent years, the remaining glaciers have shrunk by as much as 55%.

Just this last week, Glacier National Park has lost two more of its namesake moving ice fields (glaciers), to climate change.  The rivers of ice are shrinking, until they grind to a halt, the U.S. Geological Survey, said Wednesday.

“Higher temperatures have reduced the number of named glaciers in the northwestern Montana park to 25″, said Dan Fagre, an ecologist with the agency. He warned the rest of the glaciers could be gone, by decade’s end. “When we’re measuring glacier margins, by the time we go home, the glacier is already smaller than what we’ve measured,” Fagre said.  The latest two that were lost this last week, fall below the 25-acre threshold. Each had shrunk, by roughly 55 percent since the mid-1960s.

“Fewer glaciers means less water in streams for fish, and a higher risk for forest fires. Fagre said,the fate of the glaciers offers a climate barometer, indicating that dramatic changes to some ecosystems are already under way.”   Glacier melting, has accelerated in recent decades, as temperatures have increased. Most scientists, tie that warming directly, to higher atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide.

“Although glaciers are just one of the features of the mountain ecosystem that are affected by climate change, impacts to them are easy to see,” Fagre said.

A glacier forms when winter snowfall exceeds summer melting and retreats when melting outpaces the accumulation of new snow.

Without icy glacial melt water, summer stream, pond and lake temperatures will increase and cause local extinction of some species, such as the bull trout, that have adapted to the colder temperatures.
Glaciers release water into streams at a critical time — late in summer after seasonal snow melt is gone.

From 1900 to 1979, the Glacier National Park area, experienced an average of 181 days every year, when the temperature dipped below freezing. From 1980 to 2005, warming had reduced the number of below-freezing days to 152.

The region now experiences, on average, eight more days each year, when temperatures top 90 degrees, and eight fewer days when the mercury falls below zero. Over the past decade, the park has warmed, at twice the rate of the planet, overall.

This is bound to have a dramatic effect on tourism in the region. Even if people don’t come specifically to see a glacier, they come to see the things glaciers create. Visitors appreciate the snow-capped mountainsides, the waterfalls and lakes, the wildflowers and alpine meadows, along with the wildlife and the stunning turquoise blue of Cracker Lake. They come to enjoy the peaceful beauty and serenity, offered in such a pristine setting.

“Already, that blue has faded from many park waters. Dan Fagre, of the U.S. Geological Survey, says the color is created by “glacial flour” -finely ground rock powder pulverized by glacial movement. As the glaciers go, so goes the turquoise hue.”

The warming climate is changing the entire face, of Glacier National Park. The transformation, not only threatens downstream ecosystems, but also the region’s important tourism economy.

“Tourism brings about $3 billion into Montana every year,” said Rhonda Fitzgerald, an innkeeper and member of the state tourism advisory council. “In the Glacier region, it’s about $1 billion per year. Those are the economic facts.”

Glacier National Park is suffering from the effects of Climate Change and weather related disruption. Climate change, threatens not only the national park’s glaciers, but also its wildlife and forests, and of course, tourism.

Some of this is evident by the retreating glaciers and changing waters-already visible on the ground. Other changes, will occur, as the ice and snow melts further.

Likewise with plants, as forests reach into higher elevations, and grasslands encroach. River flows will lessen and warm – which will affect trout – and the area will experience more frequent and more furious wildfires.

Environmental conditions drive the economy and visitation. In 2003, when wildfires burned across 10 percent of Glacier National Park, visitation fell by half. In August alone, some 258,000 fewer people visited that year, than in previous years.

Our national Parks are a great source of pride and inspiration. They’re a place we can all look to, when we’re discussing our shared values. They are as much a true symbol of lasting beauty, as they are a National treasure.

We must not forget our role, to show respect for the species that depend on these habitats to thrive and propagate. Restraint and reverence for the wilderness, and its inhabitants, hasn’t always been our strong suit. We humans, can tend to go above and beyond our rights as a species.

Today, and in this economy, we need the spiritual awakening, nourishment, and aesthetic healing, that the beauty of these parks can provide. They tend to allow us, if only for a brief space in time, to leave behind the distractions and routines of our daily lives. We can become one with nature and have a chance to find and connect to our best selves. You may want to consider making this a place to visit, because it is one of those places that is still beautiful, but it ain’t like it use to be!

Visit Glacier National Park!

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