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Hydroclimatology and Solar Explorations

Climate & Weather Representations, Polar Hydroclimatology, Uncategorized

Glacier Park retreats on assertions that Glaciers are retreating

In a stunning rebuke to global glacial retreat assertions, CNN reported that the USGS has weighed in on glacial trend interpretations, motivating the National Park Service to change its site promotions (at Glacier National Park) of imminent glacial disappearance by this year of 2020:

“In 2017, the park was told by the agency (USGS) that the complete melting off of the glaciers was no longer expected to take place so quickly due to changes in the forecast model,”

https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/08/us/glaciers-national-park-2020-trnd/index.html

The article features the final replacing of their signage at the park.   There are other interesting components to this article at least to me.

  • The article leads with a video of a calving glacier in Iceland, on the other side of the planet from Glacier National Park.   For the record, a calving glacier is a clear sign that the glacier wants to GROW.  The glacier, fed by added moisture over the high altitude mountain catchments that sustain it, is “flowing” to the sea or lake where it can go no further.  At that boundary, it terminates simply by calving off into tiny icebergs.
  • The article never mentions the numerous glaciers in the same neighborhood which are GROWING.
  • The article mentions a paper by Dr. Dan Fagre, and interviews him, but does not provide any further links to or title of the paper.
  • In quoting Dr. Dan Fagre, the article implicitly suggests that he did not write “humans are responsible” until after his scientific paper was already published.

Do I have that right?   I’ve been reaching out directly to glacier, ozone, greenhouse gas, and hydrologic streamflow scientists on a somewhat routine basis.  So I’ll try to first read Fagre’s paper and then perhaps reach out to get clarification.  Regardless of what he thinks about humans, I wonder if Dr. Fagre would publicly recognize that some glaciers to the west of Glacier National Park are growing.  I’ll try to find out.

Many glaciers in North America are Growing (yellow circles). And USGS suggests that Glaciers in GNP (white circle) are not shrinking.

The authors of the CNN article are Christina Maxouris and Andy Rose.  I may also try reach out to them to find the Fagre link and see if they also recognize that some glaciers are growing.

This is only a blog, which focuses on solar cycles and hydroclimatology.  In that focus, I include explorations of transparency and balance in climate papers and statements by experts and media.

 

 

 

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