Study: Olympic glaciers doomed

Andrew G. Fountain and five others have posted a study online, “Glaciers of the Olympic Mountains — the Past and Future 100 years,” noting three key points:

• The glaciers of the Olympic Peninsula are shrinking rapidly, losing half of their ice-covered area since 1900.
• Warming air temperatures are causing glacier loss; warming winter temperatures change the phase of the precipitation from snow to rain.
• Modeling suggests the glaciers will largely disappear by 2070.

An article from the Peninsula Daily News summarized the study and added comments from Fountain and two other scientists not involved in the study. Read the full PDN article.