Climate Change in Mountain Ecosystems (CCME)

This historic image is one of the oldest images re-photographed among the collection. The massive wall of ice that constituted the terminus of Grinnell Glacier has receded beyond view from this point. Each summer thousands of hikers take the well-worn trail to be rewarded with the sight of the remnant Grinnell Glacier and Upper Grinnell Lake. Image Use Most of the repeat photography images...

The retreat of glaciers (see PDF at end of page) in Glacier National Park, Montana, has received widespread attention by the media, the public, and scientists because it is a clear and poignant indicator of change in the northern Rocky Mountains of the USA. In 2017, the USGS and Portland State University released a dataset which describes the areas of the 37 named glaciers in Glacier National Park...

Climate change is widely acknowledged to have a profound effect on the biosphere and cryosphere with many and diverse impacts on global resources. Mountain ecosystems in the western U.S., and the U.S. Northern Rocky Mountains in particular, are highly sensitive to climate change. Warming in western Montana is nearly 2 times greater than the rise in global temperatures over the last 100+ years...

This view of the northeast portion of Sperry Glacier shows evidence of the glacier's recession as well as the advancement of conifer species and other vegetation on the glacial moraines.

These photographs document another aspect of Glacier Park’s dynamic environment, vegetation change. Although Piegan Glacier has not melted noticeably, years of fire suppression and changing climate may have allowed the invasion of conifers in what was an open meadow in the foreground of the 1930 photo. Also, the demise of the ecologically important whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis ) is visually...

Alpine regions along the shores of Hidden Lake (1943 m) show tremendous expansion of vegetation in this photo comparison, especially at the base of Bearhat Mountain.

Establishment of new growth and expansion of existing sparse vegetation is obvious along the upper ridge line (center of photo). Persistent snowpack in these alpine regions once deterred profusion of growth, but changing climate conditions have permitted these species to expand their range.

Thunderbird Glacier, Glacier National Park.

Vegetation ingrowth on the penninsula and surrounding lakeshore are evident in this pair of photos.

Swiftcurrent Glacier 1911 - 2013.

Swiftcurrent Glacier from Swiftcurrent Lookout, Glacier National Park

Swiftcurrent Glacier from Swiftcurrent Trail. Glacier National Park.