Activity 2.2 – Cryosphere: Grinnell Glacier, Montana

 Original Photo (1910):

(Elrod, 1910)

Second Photo (2016):

(McKeon, 2016)

Google Maps View (2021):

(Google Maps, 2021)

Grinnell Glacier, Montana (1910 - 2021):

The Grinnell Glacier is located in the center of Glacier National Park, and was named after a man named George Bird Grinnell. The glacier has been getting smaller over the years due to increasing temperatures, and has started to form a lake at the bottom of the glacier. “In 1850, Grinnell Glacier measured 710 acres… By 1993, Grinnell Glacier measured 220 acres” (Glaciers of the Conterminous United States. U.S. Geological Survey). The Grinnell Glacier in just 143 years has shrunk by almost 70%. The glacier is not freezing enough snow on top of it during the winter to outweigh the melting that is happening in the summer. In the 1910 photo, we can see the glacier on the lower half of the wall pretty high up and lots of snow covering it. As time progressed from 1910 to 2016, we can see that the wall of snow that was halfway up the rock is now near the surface of the glacier. The ice that has melted in this time has created a small lake, and an indention in the center of the glacier. The snow that was once sloped over and almost connected to the Salamander Glacier melted and turned into a pit that’s decreased in size, forming the lake at the bottom. This decrease in size is one example of how climate change has affected the Grinnell Glacier’s overall capacity. If carbon dioxide levels continue to rise, this glacier, as well as others in the park, will disappear within the next 10 years. The rise in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses is due to humans evolving machinery over the years, and burning fossil fuels that are very dangerous to the environment. Increase in industrialization led to hotter overall temperatures in the atmosphere, which led to glaciers and other bodies of ice shrinking at an alarming rate.

Problem:

The Grinnell glacier, as well as other glaciers, have been decreasing in size for hundreds of years. We can see how the Grinnell Glacier in particular has dwindled down by comparing different photos from over time. In 1910, the glacier was a very high, dense snow formation that was almost connected to another glacier on top of a peak. Now, in 2021, its size has decreased by almost 70%, not coming close to the height that it once was. This size decrease is due to climate change, and it’s increasing negative effects on earth. 

Explanation:

    This melting has been sped up and increased by the use of machinery and industrialization over time. As machines got better, they required even more fossil fuels to keep up with demand, which is producing carbon dioxide faster and faster. The carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere are increasing the earth’s overall heat, which is the reason why ice formations such as glaciers and ice caps are decreasing in size and melting so rapidly.

Sources Cited:

        U.S. Department of the Interior. (n.d.). Glacier repeat photos. National Parks Service. Retrieved September 15, 2021, from https://www.nps.gov/glac/learn/nature/glacier-repeat-photos.htm.

        Grinnell Glacier, MT - N48.75239° w113.72702°. (n.d.). Retrieved September 15, 2021, from https://www.topoquest.com/map.php?lat=48.75239&lon=-113.72702&datum=nad83&zoom=4.

        World Wildlife Fund. (n.d.). Why are glaciers and sea ice melting? WWF. Retrieved September             15, 2021, from https://www.worldwildlife.org/pages/why-are-glaciers-and-sea-ice-melting.

        Krimmel, R. M. (2013, February 25). Glaciers of North America. Internet Archive.