In the near future, there may be days without glaciers in America's famous Glacier National Park.
On the 17th of September, local media such as CNN reported that glaciers could completely disappear within a few decades in Glacier National Park, one of the top 10 national parks in the United States.
Glacier National Park, located in Montana, bordering Canada, is a blessed land filled with ice caps and glaciers. When it was first nationalized 110 years ago, the park was filled with over 100 glaciers and 25 acres of ice.
However, over 100 years passed, the park's landscape has completely changed. This is because between 1966 and 2015, there were 26 glaciers and they are shrinking. According to experts, Glacier National Park's glaciers lost an average of 40%, with some regions losing 80% of the area.
On the 16th, Glacier National Park posted a meaningful comparison photo on its Facebook and received great attention. The black and white photo was taken on August 19, 1913, and the background was Jackson Glacier. The color photo with the same background was taken on the 28th of last month, 117 years later, and the two photos are as big as the color. Even at a glance, the disappeared glacier is clearly visible.
In particular, the loss of glaciers and ice caps has a great negative impact on humans as well as nature. This is because glacial water served as a food source for wild animals and provided water supply, hydroelectric power, and cold fresh water to crops for humans. As a result, the loss of glaciers can destroy the ecosystem around the area, not simply the disappearance of tourists.
So, why do glaciers melt at a rapid rate in glacier parks? Of course, the answer to this is global warming. In the area where Glacier National Park is located, it is twice as warm as the average global temperature. In particular, statistics have shown that the days when the average temperature exceeds 32℃ has increased more than three times compared to the 20th century.
Glacier National Park said, "We all already know that the park in 2100 and the park in 1900 will be different."