The high-altitude impacts of climate change on Mount Rainier and Mount Hood

 Mount Rainier in Washington state is covered with nearly 30 square miles of glaciers and icy patches - more than Mount Hood, Crater Lake and all other volcanic mountains combined, from British Columbia to Northern California. But climate change is taking a toll on Mount Rainier’s glaciers, according to a study published in June. It found a 42% reduction in glacier area from 1896 to 2021, and officially removed Stevens glacier from the park’s inventory. The situation appears worse for the glaciers at Mount Hood, according to a new photographic survey completed last month by the Oregon Glaciers Institute. It found that the seven major glaciers at Mount Hood had receded an average of 60% over the past 120 years, and that roughly a quarter of that loss happened in just the last 20 years. Joining us to discuss the toll climate change is taking on the ice cover in these iconic and popular Northwest peaks are Scott Beason, a park geologist at Mount Rainier National Park, and Anders Carlson, the president of the Oregon Glaciers Institute. 

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