Goodbye Glaciers Hello Wildfires

The following is an excerpt from the EPA global warming website www.epa.gov/globalwarming/impacts/ mountains.

Effect on Freshwater

Changes in the depth of mountain snowpacks and glaciers, and changes in their seasonal melting, can have powerful impacts on areas that rely on freshwater runoff from mountains. Rising temperatures may cause snow to melt earlier and faster in the spring, shifting the timing and distribution of runoff. These changes could affect the availability of freshwater for natural systems and human uses, such as agriculture.

If freshwater runoff is reduced in the summer months because of earlier melting, soils and vegetation may become drier, increasing the risk and intensity of wildfires. Changes in stream flow and higher water temperatures also could affect insects and other invertebrates that live in streams and rivers, with repercussions up the food chain for fish, amphibians, and waterfowl.

Impacts on Glaciers

Changes in climate already are affecting many mountain glaciers around the world. In Montana, Glacier National Park’s largest remaining glaciers are now only a third as large as they were in 1850, and one study estimates that all glaciers in the park may disappear completely in the next 30 years. Researchers have documented rapid mountain glacier retreat in Greenland, the European Alps, the Himalayas, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, New Guinea, and East Africa, among other places.