Climate Change in Mountain Ecosystems (CCME)

Wet snow avalanches, including both wet slab and glide avalanches, are dangerous and can be particularly difficult to predict because they are relatively poorly understood compared to dry snow avalanches. They pose significant risk to human life and infrastructure in mountainous areas throughout the world. Wet snow avalanches are caused by weakening in the strength of the snowpack, often triggered...

The USGS Snow and Avalanche Project (SNAP) uses remotely sensed technologies to understand snowpack changes that influence water storage, recreation, avalanche hazard and acts as a driver of landscape change. Satellites, uninhabited aerial systems (UAS), and structure-from-motion (SfM) photogrammetry are some of the tools scientists use to collect high resolution imagery that supports ongoing snow...

Snow avalanches pose substantial risks to human safety, commerce, and infrastructure in mountainous regions across the globe. Avalanches also act as drivers of important ecological change by creating and modifying habitat for flora and fauna. To better understand the dynamic processes of avalanches at multiple scales, the USGS Snow and Avalanche project uses a variety of methods to study avalanche...

Across the globe, glaciers are decreasing in volume and number in response to climate change. Glaciers are important for agriculture, hydropower, recreation, tourism, and biological communities. Loss of glaciers contributes to sea-level rise, creates environmental hazards and can alter aquatic habitats. These are among the cascading effects linked to glacier loss which impact ecosystems and human...

In 2003, USGS scientists joined the GL obal O bservation R esearch I nitiative in A lpine Environments (GLORIA) network in establishing vegetation plots at four alpine summits in Glacier National Park, MT, USA. Vegetation and temperature data collected at the GLORIA sites are used to understand trends in species diversity, composition, abundance, and temperature from climate sensitive alpine...

USGS employees have taken photos of Grinnell Glacier from this vantage point many times since beginning the Repeat Photography Project in 1997. Each successive photo has shown the glacier to be smaller resulting in the growth of Upper Grinnell Lake. Image Use Most of the repeat photography images available on this website are in the public domain and may be reproduced without permission. Images...

This vantage point of Jackson Glacier is familiar to many visitors who stop along Going to the Sun Road to view the glacier. These images are particularly descriptive of the change in the glacier's size because both images show the glacier without much seasonal snow, allowing for a more accurate assessment of the glacier's true size. Image Use Most of the repeat photography images available on...

In the 118 years between photos, Kintla Glacier has receded into much smaller, distinct patches. Image Use Most of the repeat photography images available on this website are in the public domain and may be reproduced without permission. Images with restrictions are noted below the downloadable image. Please respect the photographer: When using these photographs, please credit the photographer and...

Oblique view of Grinnell Glacier taken from the summit of Mount Gould, Glacier National Park. The relative sensitivity of glaciers to climate change is illustrated by the dramatic recession of Grinnell Glacier while surrounding vegetation patterns remain stable. Image Use Most of the repeat photography images available on this website are in the public domain and may be reproduced without...

In 1910, Morton Elrod documented how Grinnell Glacier’s mass filled the basin and how the glacier was then joined with the ice apron we now call the Salamander (right). Close inspection of Gem Glacier (top-center) reveals a loss of thickness / volume over the past 107 years as well. Image Use Most of the repeat photography images available on this website are in the public domain and may be...

Notice the man standing on the glacier in the center of the historic photograph. The figure lends a frame of reference to the photo pair, allowing the viewer to more easily interpret the depth of ice and the loss of volume when compared to the 2016 image.

The historic image shows how the upper bench of ice flowed into the main body of Grinnell Glacier. By the early 1920s, the glacier’s volume had been reduced to the point that the two pieces became disconnected. The upper bench, considered a separate glacier, was later renamed The Salamander Glacier for its salamander-like profile against the headwall. The Continental Divide runs along the ridge...