Massive and meaty, the Taku Glacier in Alaska's Juneau Icefield was a poster child for the frozen places holding their own against climate change. As the largest of 20 major glaciers in the region and one of the single thickest glaciers in the world (it measures 4,860 feet, or 1,480 meters, from surface to floor), Taku had been demonstrably gaining mass and spreading farther into the nearby Taku river for nearly half a century, while all of its neighboring glaciers shrank. Now, it appears those glory days are over.
In a new pair of satellite photos shared by NASA's Earth Observatory, the slow decline of Taku Glacier has finally become apparent.
Guess what's to blame.
Climate Change Is 100% to Blame
Aug, 2014
Aug, 2019
Yes, folks, Climate Change is really happening. And, no, folks--the globe is not cooling. :doh
And when an iceberg floats by NYC Trump and fellow deniers will point-out "Look, there's no warming. We've got icebergs coming into New York Harbor. It's all a Chinese hoax!"
Guess what's to blame.
Climate Change Is 100% to Blame
Aug, 2014
Aug, 2019
Yes, folks, Climate Change is really happening. And, no, folks--the globe is not cooling. :doh
View attachment 67267806
View attachment 67267807
I took these pictures myself. I have annotated where the terminus of the glaciers were in 1960. Thus you can easily see the amount of volume lost since then. These are in the Northern Wind River Range, the most glaciated range in the entire American Rockies. They are deep in federal wilderness, and you are looking at a couple of days minimum of off trail walking / climbing for a fit and skilled outdoorsman to get there. On this particular solo trip, I encountered a group of climate researchers that survey the range's larger glaciers every summer. They collect organic material from the toe of the glacier revealed by the melt every summer. By carbon dating that material, they know that the range has not been this warm, nor have glaciers receded to this extent, for the entire Holocene. Similar research, with similar findings, is being done in alpine regions around the world. If one believes that AGW is a conspiracy, then they would have to believe that alpine glaciers around the world are in on it.
I believe the story, but...
Those 2 images look exactly the same, except the bottom image is smaller.
Fail?
considering that there didn't use to be glaciers there at all i would say that glaciers being there are the anomaly
@SouthernDemocrat Nice pics.
Guess what's to blame.
Climate Change Is 100% to Blame
Aug, 2014
Aug, 2019
Yes, folks, Climate Change is really happening. And, no, folks--the globe is not cooling. :doh
I think you must be misinformed. That range has been extensively glaciated for it's entire existence.
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For example, in this picture you are looking down at Down's Lake from No Man's Pass. You will notice that the valley is U shaped, making it a classic glacial carved valley. During the Pleistocene, a massive glacier carved out the entire valley. I have annotated the glacial debris and the walls scoured out by the glacier. Currently, that range is less glaciated than ever before.
Moreover, as I pointed out earlier, one of the ways they can tell glacial extent during the Holocene is by carbon dating material revealed at a glacier's terminus every melt cycle in the late summer. That organic rapidly breaks down once its revealed to the environment, thus, if, as in the case of Dinwoody and Down's Glaciers (pictured in my post above), the organic material dates 11,000 or more, we know that those glaciers have receded more than they have at any point in the entire Holocene.
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