page_title: Mendenhall Glacier
section_title: Negative effects
hierarchical_section_title: Mendenhall Glacier / Retreat / Negative effects
caption_attribution_description: English: Mendenhall Glacier in March, 1953
context_page_description: Mendenhall Glacier is a glacier about 13.6 miles long located in Mendenhall Valley, about 12 miles from downtown Juneau in the southeast area of the U.S. state of Alaska. The glacier and surrounding landscape is protected as part of the 5,815 acres Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area, a federally designated unit of the Tongass National Forest.
  The Juneau Icefield Research Program has monitored the outlet glaciers of the Juneau Icefield since 1942, including Mendenhall Glacier. The glacier has also retreated 1.75 miles since 1929, when Mendenhall Lake was created, and over 2.5 miles since 1500. The end of the glacier currently has a negative glacier mass balance and will continue to retreat in the foreseeable future.
  Given that average yearly temperatures are currently increasing, and the outlook is for this trend to continue, it is actually possible that the glacier might experience a period of stabilization or slight advance during its retreating march. This is because increasing amounts of warm, moist air will be carried up to the head of the icefield, where colder ambient temperatures will cause it to precipitate as snow.
context_section_description: The retreat of the Mendenhall Glacier and other glaciers in the area is believed by some to be a result of broader retreat and breakup of the Juneau Icefield. The Juneau Icefield is the fifth largest icefield in North America. Many populations near glacial areas rely on the glaciers for fresh drinking water. Once these glaciers are gone these people will need another source. For example, Anchorage, the most populated city in Alaska and many people there rely on the Eklutna glacier for their freshwater. If the recession of this glacier continues they will be out of their main source of water.
caption: The Glacier in March, 1953
  Stroller White Mountain in background
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