Glacier Change on Mt. Rainier

Anyone who has lived in Seattle, as I had the good fortune to do from 1989 to 1995, knows it as "The Mountain."  On clear days, the snow-and-ice-covered mass that is Mt. Rainier looms over the city and serves as a beacon for mountain adventures.  I spent a great deal of time hiking on its lower flanks and even summited once.  Amongst many gems in the National Park System, Mt. Rainier National Park is one of the best.  

But as discussed in a New York Times article published earlier this week, the glaciers of Mt. Rainier are suffering (that link is not paywalled, but I'm not sure if there is a limit on how many people will be able to use it).  The article is based on a recently released National Park Service report available at at https://irma.nps.gov/DataStore/DownloadFile/687937.   

As detailed in that report, glacier area on Mount Rainier declined 44% from 1896 to 2021, a net loss of just over 55 square kilometers of glacier area. 

Source: https://irma.nps.gov/DataStore/DownloadFile/687937.

Not surprisingly volumes are also declining.  Quoting the report:

"All 28 glaciers at Mount Rainier are in retreat, losing an average of -0.430 km2 per year (-0.166 mi2 × yr-1) parkwide during the last 125 years. Since 2015, this rate has increased to -0.544 km2 per year (-0.210 mi2 × yr-1) parkwide. When looking at volumetric data, the Park has lost a total of -1.057 km3 (-0.254 mi3) of glacial mass since 1970, at a rate of about -0.021 km3 per year (-0.005 mi2 × yr-1)."

One glacier, the Stevens, has been removed from the glacier inventory and is now considered a perennial snowfield.  Two others, Pyramid and Van Trump, are on life support.  Glacier retreat is most pronounced on the south side of Mt. Rainier, but is also occurring on the north side.  

For the lovers of ice, these are sad times.