Mount Shasta glaciers growing, despite warming

by Samantha Young

A truck moves past Mt. Shasta, background, on Highway 97 near Weed, Calif., Thursday, June 19, 2008. The Hotlum glacier, seen on the northeast face of Mt. Shasta, left, is the largest glacier by area in California, and it is getting bigger. The Hotlum glacier is one of seven ice fields that stretch down the volcanic flanks and fills nearly two square miles of valleys and ragged edges of the 14,000 foot high Mt. Shasta.(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

The northeast face of Mt. Shasta, Calif., showing the Hotlum glacier, dominates the horizon Thursday, June 19, 2008. The Hotlum glacier is one of seven ice fields that stretch down the mountain's volcanic flanks and fills nearly two square miles of valleys and ragged edges of the 14,162 foot high Mt. Shasta. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

The Hotlum glacier is seen on the northeast face of Mt. Shasta, Thursday, June 19, 2008. While global warming is causing the retreat in glaciers in the Sierra Nevada, Cascades and the Rocky Mountains, the seven glaciers on Mt. Shasta are growing. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

 

 

MOUNT SHASTA — Global warming is shrinking glaciers all over the world, but the seven tongues of ice creeping down Mount Shasta's flanks are a rare exception: They are the only long-established glaciers in the lower 48 states that are growing.

Reaching more than 14,000 feet above sea level, Mount Shasta is one of the state's tallest peaks, dominating the landscape of high plains and conifer forests in far Northern California. Nearby Indian tribes referred to its glaciers as the footsteps made by the creator when he descended to Earth. Hikers flock to Shasta every summer to scale them.

With glaciers retreating in the Sierra Nevada, the Rocky Mountains and elsewhere in the Cascades, those on Mount Shasta — a volcanic peak at the southern end of the Cascade range — are actually benefiting from changing weather patterns over the Pacific Ocean.

http://www.newsvine.com/_news/2008/07/08/1648776-mount-shasta-glaciers-growing-despite-warming