Olympic Peninsula Glaciers Will Be Mostly Gone By 2070: PSU Study

SEATTLE — They're not the first victims of climate change, and they won't be the last, but it'll still be sad to see them go. A new study from Portland State University says the glaciers of the Olympic Peninsula will have almost entirely melted by 2070.

And unfortunately, even if we solved the climate crisis right now, it's likely the glaciers would still be doomed.

“There’s little we can do to prevent the disappearance of these glaciers,” said Andrew G. Fountain, professor of geology and geography at Portland State University. “We’re on this global warming train right now. Even if we're super good citizens and stop adding carbon dioxide in the atmosphere immediately, it will still be 100 years or so before the climate responds.”

Though it's too late for the glaciers, researchers say their disappearance should be a warning sign for future generations.

“This is yet another tangible call out for us to take climate change seriously and take actions to minimize our climate impact,” Fountain told PSU.

But it isn't just the glaciers that are at risk. As they melt, they'll impact the surrounding environment, shrinking the alpine streams that fish rely on for survival.

“Once you lose your seasonal snow, the only source of water in these alpine areas is glacier melt. And without the glaciers, you're not going to have that melt contributing to the stream flow, and therefore impacting the ecology in alpine areas,” Fountain said. “That's a big deal with disastrous fallout.”

There are about 186 glaciers in Washington state, 20 of which are in the Olympics. Of those, perhaps the most famous is Blue Glacier, which flows from the summit of Mount Olympus. The glacier covers an area of about 1.7 square miles, down from 3.4 square miles at its peak. Researchers found Olympic glaciers were particularly vulnerable to climate change, because of their relatively low elevation compared to glaciers elsewhere.

“This assessment of glaciers in the Olympic Mountains underscores two key elements of glacier vulnerability. The first is warming summer temperatures, which affect the persistence of glacier ice throughout the summer melt season,” Florentine said. “The second, less obvious, is warming winter temperatures, which affect the replenishment of glacier ice during the winter snow accumulation season. This double whammy has downstream implications for glacier-adapted ecosystems in the U.S. Pacific Northwest.”

>> Read more from Portland State University.