US West Glaciers Shrink by a Third Since 1960s, Hundreds Disappear

The US west has lost nearly 300 glaciers since the 1960s, with a new study revealing the total area of glaciers in the region has shrunk by a third. At the midpoint of the last century, the American west was home to 1,450 glaciers. Research published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, led by Andrew Fountain, a geographer at Portland State University, documented that hundreds of these ice masses have functionally disappeared, meaning they have reduced to the size of about two football fields and no longer move.

This rapid decline is accelerated by the climate crisis, with rising temperatures causing glaciers to retreat. Fountain's inventory, which focused on the lower 48 states using satellite data and aerial photography across six western US states, found that smaller, south-facing glaciers at lower elevations have experienced the greatest shrinkage. Specifically, those below 9,000ft in the Sierra Nevada and under 6,000ft in the Cascade range have been most affected. Many larger glaciers are also projected to disappear within the next half-century, with only remnants expected atop the tallest mountains like Mount Hood and Mount Rainier by the century's end.

Fountain noted that glacier change is accelerating, attributing it to increased melting in hotter summers and winter precipitation shifting from snow to rain, a "double whammy." While glaciers provide cool water for ecosystems, agriculture, and hydroelectric power, their disappearance causes local angst and serves as tangible evidence of shrinking snowpack, impacting drinking water sources and exacerbating drought concerns. The issue extends beyond North America, with similar declines documented in Europe and the Himalayas. Eric Rignot, a glaciologist at the University of California, Irvine, highlighted additional dangers, such as unstable terrain leading to catastrophic collapses, as seen in Tibet and Nepal in August, where 1,400 people died.

Globally, 12.5 trillion tons of ice from Greenland and Antarctica's glaciers have melted since 1979, raising sea levels by about an inch over four decades, according to a major study last month. This enormous loss of ice, which could cover the continental US 5ft deep, contributes to severe storm and flooding effects on shores. Actions to cut planet-heating emissions could slow the loss, though restoration efforts are estimated to take centuries.

Editor's note: The draft accurately synthesizes the core findings, figures, and expert commentary from the source material.