Alaska’s Mendenhall Glacier
Mendenhall Glacier is one small part of the Juneau Icefield.
Alaska’s Mendenhall Glacier
Mendenhall Glacier used to fill this entire lake, but it has retreated at an accelerated pace over the last few decades.
Although glaciers are abundant in southeast Alaska, only a few are as accessible as Mendenhall Glacier. Mendenhall Glacier is located about 12 miles outside Juneau, and it is one small fraction of the Juneau Icefield, a 1,500 square mile expanse of snow and ice that’s home to about 40 other large glaciers. Standing back and trying to drink it all in, you realize that there are few places as astounding and overwhelming in the world. Guests can practically walk right up to the glacier from the Visitor Center to get up close and personal with this frozen wonder. One marvels at the staggering shades of blue display, while huge chunks of ice calve into the small Mendenhall lake.
Due to climate change, like many other glaciers throughout the world, Mendenhall is retreating at an accelerated and potentially irrevocable pace. Only 15 years ago, Mendenhall extended out into this water, and now it only takes up a small chunk of real estate along the edge. It compels us to consider the connectedness of nature and humans. Alaska is home to nearly 100,000 glaciers, and there are several ways of getting a more in depth education. Helicopter and sea planes are a popular way to get a bird’s eye view of the ice fields, further helping us realize the vast scale of this imposing type of environment. In many places these aircraft will actually land and do a guided walking glacier trek. Not only are glaciers entire ecosystems in their own right, they also contribute vast volumes of freshwater to both land and marine environments. By grinding down mountains into fine particles, glaciers provide our oceans with a variety of vital nutrients including nitrogen, phosphorus and carbon, all of which contribute to the marine food chain.
Glaciers are blue because the ice has become so incredibly compressed and dense that they absorb every other color of the spectrum except for blue.
View from the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center.
A great place to learn more about glaciers and their affect on our lives, is by heading to the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center. Here you can take in some spectacular views of the “river of ice”, and learn more about it with enriching exhibits, and 15 minute movie called “Landscape of Change”. There are hands on experiences for all ages, interactive exhibits, and a bookstore. Here you can learn more about why glaciers are so incredibly important and why we need to protect them, not just for their own sake and the sake of those animals that call this type of ecosystem home, but also for the entire planet’s wellbeing. No matter how you spend the rest of your time in Juneau, be sure to carve out some time explore Mendenhall Glacier.
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