In 1850, there were 150 glaciers in Glacier National Park. Now there are 25. Within 15 years, scientists project, all the glaciers may have melted away.
Similar melting is happening around the rest of the world (though other glaciers may survive a bit longer). A set of before-and-after photos published in the Geological Society of America’s GSA Today journal documents some of the changes. In Alaska, the melting Mendenhall Glacier shrank nearly 1,800 feet between 2007 and 2015. In Switzerland, the Trint Glacier retreated twice as much over roughly the same period. In Peru, the Qori Kalis Glacier shrank more than 3,700 feet between 1978 and 2016.
Image: The Trift Glacier, in Switzerland, retreated about 1.17 kliometers from 2006 to 2015. - Photo: James Balog/GSA Today/Geological Society of America
