Glaciers around the world are endangered — but no two are alike
Globally, glaciers are often lumped into one narrative of loss. These three stories show how they can still surprise us.
Glaciers around the world are facing threats, but each one has a unique story to tell. As a globe-trotting geographer and glacier scientist, I have witnessed the diverse experiences of these icy giants during my expeditions to far-flung corners of the planet. From Uganda's Stanley Glacier to Iceland's Breiðamerkurjökull and South Georgia's Heaney Glacier, each glacier has adapted to its specific environment and community, shaping and being shaped in turn.
My personal journey took me home to Portland, Oregon, where I examined the growth of a young glacier atop Mount St. Helens. The volcano, which erupted in May 1980, destroyed 70% of the mountain's ice and left behind a horseshoe-shaped crater. Remarkably, within the crater, a new glacier has emerged, now called Crater Glacier. Born from the cataclysmic eruption, Crater Glacier has persisted and even expanded, growing 13.8 million cubic meters of ice over the past decade and advancing over a thousand feet.
The growth of Crater Glacier demonstrates the individual nature of glaciers, each with a distinct life history. While we often view glaciers as a single, global entity, they live and change in their own ways, influenced by the specific conditions of their surroundings and the communities that inhabit those areas. As they transform, we must recognize and appreciate the hundreds of thousands of individual stories of glacier transformation, rather than treating them all as part of a single, unified global narrative.
Written by urgent.news from Grist's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
