As we move into the winter holiday season, we would like to first thank you for your support and also ask for your support again! With continued federal climate monitoring and research uncertain at best in the coming years, support for OGI and its mission is vital for documenting the changes occuring in Oregon's mountains. Please donate today by clicking the "donate now" button on our website here.
And we have published our 4 year impact report that will give you an overview of what we've been up to these past four years, thanks to your support. The report is available here.
And if you haven't had a chance yet, you can read our published study on glacier recession on Mt. Hood here.
Lastly, we have an update on the health of the three glaciers for which we monitor annual snowline changes: Collier Glacier on North Sister, Hayden Glacier on Middle Sister, and Eliot Glacier on Mt. Hood. We are adding Reid Glacier on Mt. Hood right now to the group (more soon on Reid).
In 2024, Collier had 10%, Hayden 28% and Eliot 27% of their areas covered by snow at the end of the summer (see satellite images below). For Collier and Hayden, this is the fifth year in a row where their end-of-summer snow cover was below 30%, which is the lowest limit for glacier survival (see graph below). Eliot's end-of-summer snow cover is more complicated as the glacier has significant debris cover of its terminus that reduces melt, meaning it requires less snow cover than Collier and Hayden to survive. This value is probably 20% coverage, meaning that Eliot Glacier will retreat due to reduced snow cover and less snow accumulation relative to ice melt, but it isn't in imminate danger of disappearing. For context, Collier and Hayden require 60-65% end-of-summer snow cover to be in equilibrium (snow accumulation = ice melt) while Eliot's cover is less for equilibrium (around 40%).
ความคิดเห็น