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Glacier Bay National Park Superintendent Susan Boudreau said visitors to the 3.2-million acre park won't notice anything different in the landscape this summer, but the rock and ice likened to a river of black syrup moving toward the bay is on the move. How fast it is moving is still the question, she said. "It is going to come down but we don't know the speed of that," Boudreau said. There are several factors that contribute to the likelihood of mountains collapsing, Geertsema said. Sometimes it is caused by a general weakening of the rock. Other times it could be due to a very large snowpack that melts quickly. Scientists also are looking at the role of climate change. "We are seeing an increase in rock slides in mountain areas throughout the world because of permafrost degradation," Geertsema said. Permafrost is ground that stays perpetually frozen. Geertsema said Swiss scientists are becoming increasingly convinced that climate change is playing a role in the frequency of rock slides, after looking at data from instruments measuring temperature and the widening and narrowing of gaps in the rocks in the Alps. "It plays an important role," Geertsema said, of climate change. "I think we have been underestimating the role it might play." Park ecologist Lewis Sharman said the landslide is a reminder of why Glacier Bay National Park is special. "These types of events to me are welcome reminders that this place is one of the coolest on earth," he said.
[Associated
Press;
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