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Repair common Windows errors and clear accumulated junk for a smoother, more stable PC - no reinstall needed.Free scan · no reinstallMore than 300 glaciers have disappeared across six western states since the mid-20th century, and the glaciers that remain have lost about 35% of their combined area, according to Portland State University glacier researcher Andrew Fountain’s October 2026 account of a review published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The count covers the contiguous United States—not Alaska or the entire country—and describes change over a broad comparison period, not an annual loss rate.
How many glaciers have disappeared in the American West?
Fountain’s account puts the mid-20th-century baseline at more than 1,450 glaciers covering 562 square kilometers (217 square miles) across six western states. Compared with that baseline, the review reports that a little more than 300 glaciers have disappeared and that total glacier area has fallen by 35%. Fountain wrote, “A little more than 300 glaciers have disappeared, way more than I had anticipated.” Fountain’s October 2026 account provides these figures; the exact shared endpoint for all glacier observations is not specified there.
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The three measures describe different kinds of change. The count records glaciers no longer present in the comparison inventory; area loss measures the reduction in their combined surface footprint; and thinning tracks changes in ice thickness. None can be substituted for another. The reported 35% is a change in total area, not a claim that 35% of the glaciers disappeared.
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Regional climate matters, but survival also depends on local terrain and snow accumulation. In the Rocky Mountains, many surviving glaciers occupy shaded, sheltered niches with less direct sun exposure. Avalanches can add snow to those sites, helping offset ice loss. Fountain describes them this way: “The surviving Rocky Mountain glaciers inhabit shaded niches less exposed to direct sunshine and gain additional snow from avalanches.”
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Washington’s large glaciers on Mount Rainier and Mount Baker benefit from cooler summers and greater snowfall. Those conditions help explain why loss rates differ among mountain ranges; they do not mean these glaciers are stable or immune to warming.
Where are glaciers thinning fastest?
Fountain’s account identifies the Beartooth-Absaroka Mountains as the fastest-thinning region in the comparison, at about 0.5 meters of ice thickness per year. For glaciers on Mount Rainier and Mount Baker, it reports about 0.15 meters per year. These are reported thickness-loss rates, not annual changes in glacier area or counts.
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| Region | Reported ice-thickness loss | Context |
|---|---|---|
| Beartooth-Absaroka Mountains | About 0.5 meters per year | Fastest thinning identified in Fountain’s October 2026 account. |
| Mount Rainier and Mount Baker | About 0.15 meters per year | Cooler summers and greater snowfall are cited as factors that help these glaciers persist. |
The account also reports that the average glacier area is about 0.25 square kilometers, while Mount Rainier’s largest glacier is 11.24 square kilometers. The contrast shows why a glacier count alone does not convey how much ice or surface area remains: many glaciers are small, while a few are much larger.
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What happens to streams and ecosystems as glaciers retreat?
Glacier melt supplies cold water to alpine streams late in summer, after seasonal snow has melted. As glaciers shrink, that source of late-season flow and cooling changes, with consequences for headwater ecosystems. Washington glaciers also contribute water to hydropower systems.
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Water from ice glaciers and rock glaciers can differ in composition, and the differences vary among mountain regions. A U.S. Geological Survey summary of a field study describes sampling 25 alpine ice glaciers and 24 rock glaciers across three western mountain regions over three summers. The work links meltwater composition to headwater chemistry and biological activity; it is a separate study from the 2026 glacier inventory, not a measurement of the inventory’s losses. The USGS summary outlines that field research.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Can glacier retreat increase debris-flow hazards?
On volcanic mountains, retreat can leave moraines—ridges of loose sediment and rock—that may be undercut by water and contribute to debris flows. Fountain points to events on Mount Hood and Mount Rainier in 2006 and expects retreat-related debris flows to become more common. That is an expectation, not a quantified forecast: the account provides no projected event frequency, so it does not establish how often such flows will occur.
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What the 300-glacier figure does—and does not—tell us
- Geography: The count concerns glaciers in six western states in the contiguous United States. It does not include Alaska or represent a survey of all U.S. glaciers.
- Period: The comparison is described as beginning in the mid-20th century; a single exact endpoint for every glacier observation is not given in Fountain’s account.
- Different measures: Glacier disappearance, total area loss, and ice-thickness thinning are distinct outcomes and should not be read as equivalent rates.
- Separate projection: A model result cited for the Olympic Peninsula suggests its glaciers may mostly disappear by 2070. That projection is not an observed result from the inventory and should not be generalized to all western glaciers.
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