Glaciers in Western Canada and the U.S. are now melting at twice the rate observed just a decade ago, according to a new study led by Dr. Brian Menounos of the University of Northern British Columbia. Between 2021 and 2024 alone, 12% of glacial mass vanished, driven by a lethal combination of low snow accumulation, extreme heatwaves, prolonged droughts, and darkening of ice surfaces from wildfire ash, which accelerates melt by absorbing more heat.
Published in Geophysical Research Letters, the study warns that this accelerating loss is becoming a dangerous climate feedback loop. The annual glacial loss is staggering—22 gigatonnes, the equivalent of 22 billion pickup truckloads of water or the volume of British Columbia’s massive Okanagan Lake every year. This isn’t just about ice melting—it’s the slow collapse of a water reservoir critical to ecosystems, agriculture, and the lives of millions across the region. Read More
News Credit: CBC
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