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THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, AUGUST 7, 2021
Glaciers feel the heat of climate change
By MICHAEL KOHN
The Bulletin
Winter brought above-av-
erage snow to the central
Cascades. Then a summer-
time heat wave melted most
of it away.
Now central Oregon’s
glaciers
could
experi-
ence signifi cant melt as the
snow that normally protects
them in the warmer months
disappears.
The rapid snowmelt that
occurred in spring and early
summer has left midsummer
snowmelt at historic lows,
said Larry O’Neill, an asso-
ciate professor at the Col-
lege of Earth, Ocean and
Atmospheric Sciences at
Oregon State University.
What’s more, this snow sea-
son — with its unusually
rapid melt-off — is going to
become the new normal, he
said.
When snowpack melts
early in the year, it can have
negative consequences on
water resources and the
health of the glaciers. Res-
ervoirs struggle to fi ll, river
levels remain lower than
normal and rangeland can
deteriorate. For those who
enjoy scaling Mount Jeff er-
son, North Sister and other
central Oregon peaks, it can
mean an early end to the
climbing season on several
mountains.
“The slightly warmer
than normal spring and
the June heat wave melted
nearly all the snowpack,”
said O’Neill. “We entered
spring with near-normal
snowpack in the central Ore-
gon Cascades, but unfortu-
nately it melted out about
three to four weeks earlier
than normal.”
The impact of this is
less snow in late summer
to melt into streams, caus-
ing streams to fl ow at lower
levels than normal. That can
impair habitat for fi sh and
wildlife. The weak snow-
pack in late summer also
dries out forests, creating
conditions for wildfi re.
“This snow season is a
perfect example of what the
future will look like,” said
O’Neill.
Glaciers melt off more
rapidly when the protective
snowpack that covers them
disappears, said Anders
Carlson, president of the
Oregon Glaciers Institute, a
nonprofi t that works to pre-
serve glaciers through sci-
ence and education.
“This will be a very bad
year for them,” said Carl-
son. “With the snow retreat-
ing and disappearing so
quickly, this exposes the
underlying glacier to melt-
ing sooner than in more nor-
mal years.”
The melt-off comes amid
historically hot weather in
central Oregon. Tempera-
tures recorded in Bend
reached all-time highs in
late June, culminating in
107-degree weather on June
30. At Warm Springs on
June 27, the temperature
soared to 119 degrees, tying
a state record.
June this year was the
second warmest June on
record, dating back to 1895,
said O’Neill. June was also
ABOVE: A
small amount
of snow
remains on
South Sister
as a vehicle
travels
along the
Cascade Lakes
Highway.
8 degrees above normal
compared to the record of
8.3 degrees above normal
recorded in June 2015.
The threadbare snow
cover, combined with the
hot temperatures, is a dou-
ble whammy, said Carlson,
potentially driving glacier
melt at a rapid rate.
“This can be a force mul-
tiplier but in a bad way,”
said Carlson. “Longer peri-
ods of time with more gla-
cier ice exposed to hotter
temperatures all equals a
bad year for glaciers.”
In years past, even in
summer, Mount Bachelor,
Broken Top and Three Sis-
ters are covered in snow.
Collier Glacier on west
slopes of North Sister would
also be blanketed in snow.
While the sight of so
much exposed mountain
may be jarring for some
Bend residents at this time
of year, experienced moun-
tain climbers say they are
getting used to the snowless
skyline west of the city.
“It doesn’t surprise me,”
said Cliff Agocs, co-owner
of Timberline Mountain
Guides, which runs moun-
taineering trips in the Cas-
cades. “I have been working
in the mountains in Ore-
gon for 12 years now, and I
have just seen the slow pro-
gression or fast progression
depending on how you look
at it.”
Agocs blames climate
BELOW: A
nearly snow-
free section of
the Cascades
mountain
range.
Photos by Ryan
Brennecke/
The Bulletin
change for the rapid loss
of snow in the Cascades
each summer. Temperatures
have warmed, on average,
by 2 degrees over the past
century in Oregon, and the
snowpack is down by 20%
since 1950, according to the
Environmental Protection
Agency.
A report from the Oregon
Climate Change Research
Institute, released in Janu-
ary, states that temperatures
will rise by 5 degrees by the
2050s. It adds that snowy
days will be cut in half by
the mid-21st century com-
pared to levels at the begin-
ning of the century. Snow-
pack will decline by 60%
by the middle of the century,
the institute projects.
Because it’s safer to
climb when loose rocks are
still frozen together, Agocs’
guided climbs end when the
mountaintops thaw out. Ten
years ago that meant climb-
ing into early August. The
trips now end in early July.
“That kind of change
shouldn’t be recognizable to
one person over a decade,”
said Agocs. “It’s really fast.”
LeRoy Adolphson
O
n August 5, 2020, LeRoy Adolphson
passed away. He was a very special
Astorian and his presence has been
missed.
As I sit in our garden, looking at how
the trees dance and shimmer in the light
in this magical place, I am reminded
of all the beauty he has brought to our
community. Ghosts of him are visible
from all the places he cared for around
town over the years. I miss you daily and
I always will.
All My Love,
David
Due to the rising tide of COVID cases,
a memorial will not be held. Perhaps
take a moment in your own garden
and raise a glass to our LeRoy.