sciencetech-blog

comments

What was once a hub for ski lovers and home to more than 100 ice sheets may be stripped of its very identity as climate change affects the ecosystem.

Glacier National Park may have to undergo a name change in the next 16 years -- the time the Park's namesake glaciers are expected to disappear completely, The New York Times reports.

U.S. Geological Survey reports that the Park's glaciers have rapidly declined in number since its establishment in 1910. The Times reports that the Park was once home to some 150 ice sheets, now that number is less than 30.

Decline: Above are photos of the Boulder Glacier Terminus in 1913 ( left) and the glacier photographed in 2012 (right) illustrating the decline in the size of the Park's glaciers

The cause of the glacial recession in the Park that boasts nearly 1,600 square miles is no secret: climate change.

The Times reports that small ski areas that once riddled the park have since closed due to shorter Winter seasons and snows too light to keep them open. 

Streams in the Park that are fed by melted snow are reaching peak spring flows earlier than in the past and low summer flows earlier than usual. 

Glaciers: Above are photos of the Grinnell Ridge glacier in 1910 (left) and photographed again in 2012 (right)

Farmers who depend on the snow melt in the warmer months fear that the water they need will not be available. Dried out soil from warmer, drier summers have resulted in an increase of wildfires in the park, according to the Times.

Even the wildlife is suffering, the Times reports that the Bull Trout population is decreasing as water temperatures rise.

Ecosystem: Daniel B. Fagre, a USGS research ecologist, (above) said that the dwindling glaciers impact the Park's ecosystem

The Montana park has been called the center of the 'Crown of the Continent Ecosystem,' -- the Rocky Mountain Range joining northwest Montana, southwest Alberta, and southeast British Columbia, according to the Montana Travel Site.   

Daniel B. Fagre, a USGS research ecologist, said that dwindling glacier size means 'we're on the cusp of bigger changes.'

'We're a snow-driven ecosystem, and glaciers are just a part of that,' Fagre said. 'The way the snow goes is the way our ecosystem goes.'

Montana: Glacier National Park is located in Montana on the Canada–United States border and is nearly 1,600 square miles