From a Glaciers Perspective

Lago Greve in Sentinel image from 10-16-2026 indicating recent calving activity at Lautaro Glacier and Lago Crego Lago Geve is a proglacial lake on the western margin of the Southern Patagonia Ice Cap that several glacier terminate in; Greve Glacier, Lautaro Glacier, HPS-8 Glacier and Pio XI Glacier. This is one of the largest proglacial lakes in the world with an area of ~190 km2. The lake drains through an outlet river on the northwest shore of the lake. Erosion of the oulet channel did lead…

We completed our 43rd annual observation of North Cascade glaciers in the field. Three of the glaciers we monitor are global reference glaciers for the World Glacier Monitoring Service (WGMS); Columbia Easton and Rainbow Glacier. The field team was Abby Connor, Shaina Dotson, Rikki Held, Jill Pelto, Mauri Pelto and Ava Reynolds. Ben Pelto, Hannah Conteras, Nina Adjanin and Danielle Schlunegger-Warner This field season follows the 2021-2025 seasons that featured either historic heat waves and/or…

Ultramarine Glacier in 1986 and 2026 Landsat image, red arrow 1986 terminus and yellow arrow 2026 terminus. The glacier has retreated 2.2 km and in 2026 has no retaied snow cover. (NJ=Nellie Juan Glacier) Ultramarine Glacier is an outlet glacier of the Sargent Icefield. The terminus extends northwest from the glacier and icefield. To the south is Princeton Glacier and the north is Nellie Juan Glacier. The glacier terminus has been in an expanding proglacial lake, but appers to be retreating…

Retreat of Sheridan Glacier and expansion of Sheridan Lake from 2002-2026 in Landsat images. Lake has expanded from 3.8 to 13.5 km2, due to 2.25 km retreat. .Sheridan Glacier in the Chugach Mountains of Alaska flows southwest out of the mountains onto a terminus plain where it has gouged out a lake basin that expands as the glacier retreats. Sheridan Lake is a proglacial lake at the terminus that drains into the Sheridan River that 12 km later reaches tidewater. From 1950 to 2000 Sheridan…

Berg Lake on Aug. 30th after drainage in this Landsat image. Yellow arrow indicates lake that has changed from dark blue seen in late July indicative of limited glacier input, to a lighter blue indicating glacier input. Berg Lake, Alaksa is impounded by the Steller Glacier terminus. During the latter half of the 20th century and early 21st century this lake periodically drained west through a gorge to the Bering River. The lake drainage currently goes directly from Pacman Lake into the Gandil…

The Skykomish River in the North Cascades is partially glacier fed. It joins with the Snoqualmie River to form the Snohomish River, flowing into the Puget Sound near Everett. Columbia Glacier is seen on the left of the painting, with the beautiful Blanca Lake beneath. This is one of three glaciers remaining in this region, the other six have recently disappeared. On the right side is the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, two glaciers in this complex remain. The large bar graph in this piece shows…

Jill Pelto: Field painting of new large bedrock exposures in the big icefall on Easton Glacier, Mt. Baker. The 2026 field season of the NCGCP brought dramatic changes. While we expected most of these, it doesn’t make them any easier to physically navigate or emotionally experience. Even at 9,000 ft, the glaciers of Mt. Baker are thinning, with new bedrock emerging. Above about 7,000 ft, the snowpack was decent, which will slightly help to mitigate the losses from lack of snowpack at lower…

Petermann Glacier in Landsat images from July 21st and Aug. 13 2026. Indicating the rift that leads to iceberg calving of berg A-yellow arrows. Additional significant rifting inidicated by red arrows. Berg B is not a stable configuration. The Petermann Glacier in northwest Greenland is significantly different than the fast flowing large outlet glaciers, such as the Jakobshavn and Helheim Glacier we here so much about. Petermann Glacier is much thinner at the calving front and moves much slower.…

Figure 1. Global mean annual balance (bars) and cumulative balance (line) from the WGMS data set. Each year since 2008 I have been responsible for summarizing the global alpine glacier status for each specific year in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society State of the Climate report. The 2025 report came out in early August. Below is the report with several added figures. The 2025 World Glacier Monitoring Service (WGMS) dataset of annual glaciological mass balance observations…

Lower Curtis Glacier terminus in 2025 with overall results of our work 1984-2025. 2026 Field Season: For the 43rd consecutive summer we are heading into the field to measure and communicate the impact of climate change on North Cascade glaciers. This field season follows the 2021-2025 seasons that featured either historic heat waves and/or periods of extended warm weather. The heat led to a greater exposure of bare ice on glaciers with a higher albedo and greater density. The observed melt…

Barnes Ice Cap having in Landsat image with well developed melt channels from crest to margin of ice cap. Snow cover has been lost with over a month left in melt season. Barnes Ice Cap located in the center of Baffin Island, Canada covers an area of ~5731 km2 in 2021 (Rippin et al 2026). The ice cap is approximately 150 km long, 60 km wide and has maximum ice thickness of ~730 m and a maximum ice elevation of 1124 m above sea level (asl) at the summit of the north dome. They also noted that…

Miles Glacier and Van Cleve glacier lake (VC) near its maximum size on June 19th and after drainage on July 9th in Sentinel images. Glacier margin black dots. Miles Glacier terminates in an embayment on the east side of the Copper River, Alaska. A secondary terminus on the north side of the main glacier has long impounded a glacial lake that periodically drains. As miles has retreated over the last 40 years the maximum size of the glacial dammed lake has diminished, prior to its drainage. In…

Hovgard Kystland Glacier in Sentinel image from July 4, 2026 with margin indicated by black dots. The 2020 margin seen below is indicated by green dots. Hovgard Kystland Glacier is an outlet glacier in West Greenland between Alison and Hayes Glacier. Alison Glacier had the highest retreat rate from 1976-2021 losing 14.3 km in length and 59.4 km2 in terminus area (Black and Joughin, 2026). Hayes Glacier lost 2.7 km in length and 10.8 km2 in area (Black and Joughin, 2026).. They indicate that…

Global alpine mass balance in 2024 as reported to the World Glacier Monitoring Service. Solid line is the cumulative balance, bars are the annual balance. Each of the last 15 years I have summarized the annual mass balance of alpine glaciers globally for the Bulletin American Meterological Society-State of the Climate report,. Below is the 2024 section on alpine glaciers with a few added figures. ALPINE GLACIERS M. Pelto In 2024, all 58 global reference glaciers reported a negative annual mass…

In June of 2025 heat waves combined with limited winter snowpack set the stage for significant glacier loss, 3% of the volume of Swiss Glacier. This followed on the exceptional losses in 2022 and 2023. This same story in playing out through June of 2026, which will lead to this being the fourth year in the last five with exceptional glacier mass balance loss. On Grosser Aletsch Glacier on June 11th the snow line on the glacier was at 2450 m. By June 24th it had risen to 2800 m and by June 25th…

On June 1, 2026 the snowline is near the terminus of Argentiere Glacier at 2300 m, by June 24, 2026 the snowline has rise upglacier 3.3 km to 2700 m. The French Alps have expereienced a significant June heat wave that has driven a rapid rise in glacier snow lines. Rabatel et al (2013) examined the equilibrium line altitude (ELA) of glaciers in the region from 1984-2010. The ELA is the snowline at the end of the summer melt season. Rabatel et al (2013) found the average snow line of 3000 m on…

Bear Glacier ice dammed lake filled on Oct. 10th and drained on Oct. 17th, 2025. The Sentinel images also illustrated rifts. Bear Glacier, Alaska on the Kenai Peninsual due to retreat developed an ice dammed proglacial that periodically drains. An August drainage in 2014 and 2018 were noted by Kurtz and Wolken (2019). Recent increases in kayaking and standup paddle boarding has led to this lakes drainage posing a recreational hazard. In 2024 the lake drained between 8/14 and 9/7. It then had…

View from Heather Meadows to Table Mt on May 2, 2026 (Jill Pelto photo) Since 1984 we have measured glacier mass balance on North Cascade glaciers every year. Mass balance is the difference between accumulation (income) and melt (expenses). The accumulation season typicallys ends around May 1. In 2026 it ended on April 19. In early December snowpack was average above 1500 m (5000 feet) and limited below. The region was then impacted by a historic atmospheric river from Dec. 8-12. that led to…

Occidental Glacier in Sentinel images from Dec. 2024 and March 2026 indicating the rapid narrowing of the terminus tongue A, that from the numerous icebergs is actively underway. Occidental Glacier is an outlet glacier draining west from the Southern Patagonia Icefield. In 2015 the glacier terminus rested on the western shore of a proglacial lake where it bends to the northwest. At Point B a glacier lake was dammed by the ice front. From 2015 to 2021 the northwestern margin of the terminus…

March 21, 2026 was World Day for Glaciers, telling this story is an ongoing four decades long project for us. The North Cascade Glacier Climate Project began in 1984 to identify the response of Washington’s North Cascade glaciers to climate change. The 2026 field season will mark our 43rd year of observations. I  co-direct the … Continue reading North Cascade Glacier Climate Project Year of Glacier Preservation Observations

Kerguelen Island is at the edge of the furious fifties in the southern Indian Ocean. The island is host to many glaciers, the largest being the Cook Ice Cap at 400 km2. A comparison of aerial images from 1963 and 2001 by Berthier et al (2009) indicated the ice cap lost 21 % of its area in … Continue reading Cook Ice Cap, Kerguelen Island 21st Century Retreat

Volcan Peteroa at 35 S straddles the Argentina-Chile Border. Its glaciers-Azufre and Penon have been nearly snow free since mid-January 2026 with 5% snowcover on Feb. 16, 2026. These glaciers drain into Rio Colorado and then the Rio Lontue River of Chile. The summer of 2026 has led to high snow lines and many snow … Continue reading Central Andes Glaciers Becoming Snow Free Melt Season 2026