Evening star., 1952-10-13
Glaciers Moy Indicate
Coming Of Next Ice Age
Colder Climate Is Recorded
On Thermometer in Montana
By T. R. Henry

Maybe the next ice age has started.
The fifty mountain glaciers Of Nom
tana's Glacier National Park may be q
thermometer recording this momentous
change.
This develops from a study of the
recent behavior Of these glaciers by DR..
r. A. Dightman Of the United States
Weather Bureau and M. E. Beatty. the
chief park naturalist.
In the conclusion to their findings they
quote Great Britains foremost living
meteorologist. DR.. c. E. p. Brooks: Signs
are not wanting that we are even now
in a period of climatic change which
may have vital, but so far unpredictable.
consequence for civilization"
Glacier Has Increased.
For 40 years the glaciers in this wild
region OF lakes and mountains have been
decreasing in size. Sometimes their
fronts retreated up the mountainsides q
few inches, sometimes few feet. But
OF late years the declines have been
very small. Last year there was a big
change. One of the largest Of the gla-
clers, the Grinnell, advanced approxi-
mately rs feet and there was an increase
IN depth Of five feet. This was the first
increase of any magnitude since 1910
when the park was created.
For several years past, the report
points out, Montana summers have been
cool and wet. There has been a cumula-
tive effect which only now is showing in .
the glaciers. For the last II years there
has been progressive decrease in aver
age annual temperatures in the northern
Rockies. The average for Montana for
ten years ending with 1899. for example.
was AL degrees F. But for the ten years
ending with 1851 this had declined to
42.2. Meanwhile there has been q trend
upward In rain and snow.
Since the averages are for decades
with both much hot weather and much
cold weather, the average resident Of
the region probably has not noticed any
change. But the glaciers, whose seasons
are years, notice the change.
The glacier increase comedies with
other predictions. For example, DR..
H. c. Willett of Massachusetts institute
Of Technology has pointed out that the
world seems to be entering period Of
sunspot inactivity and that experience
Of the past indicates that this means
cooler. wetter weather. Certainly the
rain increase already has been noted
through most of the West. he has
pointed out. and 1t is probable that the
temperature decline will follow.
While such trend has not appeared
definitely in some parts Of the Northern
Hemisphere. DR.. Willett believes that
there may be a lag of several years in
some European and Asiatic areas.
They Are Recent in Origin.
The Montana glaciers, the report
points out, are not leftovers from the
last ice age. about 10000 years ago.
All available evidence Is that they are
Of much more recent origin. due to ex-
cess piling up Of ice and snow on tho
mountainous. OF the 80 glaciers in
the park today only one has q surface
area OF about half square mile. Seven
others have areas of slightly over q
quarter square mile. These glaciers
are found In shaded location on east
or north-facing slopes at elevations be-
tween 5000 and 5000 feet, well below
the permanent snow line.
During the 60 years following the
first written or Photographic records Of
these glaciers. all have declined rapidly
in both area and volume. Many Of the
glaciers shown on the topographic map
OF the park completed in 1914 are no
longer in existence. Others are inactive
or now too small to be considered true
glaciers. The Agassiz glacier, for ex-
ample, had an area of more than one
and-a-hah square miles when first
mapped by the Geological Survey in
1902. BY 1910 it had shrunk to less
than a third Of square mile.