Climate Change and the Rocky Mountains - Impact of Global Changes on Mountains: Responses and Adaptation - page 447

Jackson Glacier_1911_Elrod_UofM archives
Jackson Glacier_2009_Fagre USGS
Figure 20.1. Repeat photographs of Jackson Glacier showing the dramatic ice reduction since
1911 .
At least 150 glaciers existed at the end of the Little Ice Age (Carrera 1989)
but only 25 glaciers larger than 0.1 km 2 exist now (Fagre and McKeon 2010).
These are likely to be gone in decades with estimates from models ranging
from 2030 (Hall and Fagre 2003) to 2080 (Brown et al. 2010) as the end dates
depend on rates of future climate change. What is clear is that this area
will be devoid of glaciers without a reversal in the current upward trend
in temperatures. Fountain (2007) has indicated that the glaciers of Glacier
National Park have shrunk more quickly than other areas of the western
U.S. (66% vs. 25-40%) but a recent paper (Fountain et al. 2012) shows that
the higher elevation glaciers in Wyoming are now shrinking at comparable
rates. Pochop et al. (1990) had earlier reported that glaciers in the Wind