The future of Alaska’s Juneau Ice Field is considered at high risk, with many glaciers having already melted, and other ice sheets decelerating rapidly.

A team of researchers studying the glaciers have warned that this ice melt could soon trigger one of the earth’s “tipping points”. These are thresholds determined by climate scientists; the triggering of any of them could lead to irreversible and catastrophic damage to our climate.

This is because many of the possible tipping points could trigger another, and then another, starting a cascade of environmental and ecological disasters.

For example, melting ice sheets may change the temperatures of the ocean, as well as causing sea levels to rise. In addition, this could cause even more glaciers to melt, only exacerbating the problem.

Dr Bethan Davies, who led the project, explained the significance of this problem:

“As glacier thinning on the Juneau plateau continues and ice retreats to lower levels and warmer air, the feedback processes this sets in motion is likely to prevent future glacier regrowth,” said Davies, “potentially pushing glaciers beyond a tipping point into irreversible recession.”

The research, published in Nature Communications attributed the acceleration in glacier loss to climate change. In a statement, Davies said:

“It’s incredibly worrying that our research found a rapid acceleration since the early 21st century in the rate of glacier loss across the Juneau icefield. Alaskan icefields – which are predominantly flat, plateau icefields – are particularly vulnerable to accelerated melt as the climate warms since ice loss happens across the whole surface, meaning a much greater area is affected. Additionally, flatter ice caps and icefields cannot retreat to higher elevations and find a new equilibrium.”

The research team mapped the ice field over 250 years to determine the level of glacier loss. Their project found that over that space of time, the size of the ice field had reduced by around a quarter. For a 1,500 square mile ice field, that is a significant loss.

In addition, the team found that the rate of glacier melt is only increasing, with the speed at which ice was lost from the field speeding up in the last 50 years, and then quickening rapidly in the last fifteen. Over 100 glaciers were determined to have been lost over the 250 year time period, with a significant portion of that ice field loss happening since the 1970s.

The loss to the Juneau Ice Field is humungous, a clear demonstration of the price the world could pay if the climate crisis is not taken seriously.

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