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Glacier Rephotos from Mount Rainier


I posted a new batch of glacier repeat photos from Mount Rainier. Mount Rainier was quite an undertaking as it’s glaciers have been studied for a long time and there were many established photo stations.  Last September I traveled to the mountain as part of the Glacier Rephoto Database Project to document the photo stations and acquire new repeat photographs to record the changes. Last year was focused on the Glacier-clad Volcanoes of the Pacific Northwest.



Nisqually Glacier, Station 5
Mount Rainier is a big mountain compared to the other volcanoes in the Pacific Northwest and equally big is the quantity of ice. The grandeur of the mountain and expanse of ice has attracted numerous glacier studies over the past century  including a number of  repeat photography projects. Perhaps the most studied is the Nisqually Glacier.  The glacier has undergone many changes over the past century. The three comparison photos from Station 5 illustrate the glacier advancing in the of the 1960s and 1970s, followed by the glacier retreat in the 1990s and 2000s.





Other glaciers that were rephotographed showed similar retreat. Over the past century the Paradise Glacier has disappeared from the lower valley, a forest of small trees blanket where the  Emmons Glacier terminated, and the South Tahomas has retreated more than two miles. You can check out the photos HERE.



The Glacier RePhoto Database Project is created by Hassan Basagic, with funding from a Mazamas Research Grant and an American Alpine Club Nikwax Alpine Bellwether Grant, and in collaboration with Andrew Fountain and the Glaciers of the American West Project at Portland State University (//glaciers.us).
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