Fifty-year record of glacier change reveals shifting climate in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska, USA
Fact Sheet
2009-3046
By: Water Resources Division, U.S. Geological Survey
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Abstract
Fifty years of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) research on glacier change shows recent dramatic shrinkage of glaciers in three climatic regions of the United States. These long periods of record provide clues to the climate shifts that may be driving glacier change.
The USGS Benchmark Glacier Program began in 1957 as a result of research efforts during the International Geophysical Year (Meier and others, 1971). Annual data collection occurs at three glaciers that represent three climatic regions in the United States: South Cascade Glacier in the Cascade Mountains of Washington State; Wolverine Glacier on the Kenai Peninsula near Anchorage, Alaska; and Gulkana Glacier in the interior of Alaska (fig. 1).
Suggested Citation
Water Resources Division, U.S. Geological Survey, 2009, Fifty-year record of glacier change reveals shifting climate in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska, USA: U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2009-3046, 4 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/fs20093046.
ISSN: 2327-6932 (online)
Study Area
| Publication type | Report |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | USGS Numbered Series |
| Title | Fifty-year record of glacier change reveals shifting climate in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska, USA |
| Series title | Fact Sheet |
| Series number | 2009-3046 |
| DOI | 10.3133/fs20093046 |
| Year Published | 2009 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | U.S. Geological Survey |
| Contributing office(s) | U.S. Geological Survey |
| Description | 4 p. |
| Country | Canada, United States |
| State | Alaska, British Columbia, Washington |