Story by Sarah Francis
It’s no secret that our climate is changing, and there are serious consequences for human civilization all over the world. Scientists are hard at work studying how climate shifts are affecting people and the environment. Scientists are also faced with the challenge of communicating their findings to the public, and some have come up with brilliant and beautiful strategies.
Changes in climate are especially evident in the mountains near my current home in Bellingham: The North Cascades. Alpine mountain environments are especially sensitive to warming temperatures, and scientists have shown that temperatures are rising much more rapidly at high elevations. These warming temperatures are resulting in shrinking glaciers.
Glaciers are formed in areas where snowfall accumulates year after year, becoming compressed into a dense block of ice. Glaciers are remarkable because they are able to move and flow under their own weight, like silly putty spreading out on a table surface. They are like very cold, slow-moving rivers. In the North Cascades, glacial meltwater feeds our rivers during the summer months when precipitation is sparse. Here, as well as all over the world, glaciers provide drinking water, crop irrigation, energy, cultural resources, and more to millions of people.
Jill Pelto, a glacier scientist and visual artist, has created stunning watercolor paintings documenting glacier changes as well as her experiences researching glaciers in the North Cascades.
Several of her pieces include actual data from her research. Decrease in Glacier Mass Balance is one of my favorites. If you look closely, you’ll notice that this painting is actually a line graph showing how ice mass in the North Cascades has decreased in the last thirty years.
Moments of Observation also includes data points, showing how a glacier has shrunk in the last few decades.
This final piece shows Jill Pelto measuring the depth of a crevasse in the North Cascades. She used measurements like this to monitor crevasse changes over time.
Scientists are still hard at work learning more about glacier change in mountain environments all over the world. Hopefully, with the help of wonderful paintings like Pelto’s, more people will begin to understand the importance of this challenging research field, and provide support to the scientists behind it all. To see more of Jill Pelto’s works, check out her Glaciogenic Art website.