conservationcurrents
Smoky Summers and Shorter Ski Seasons The future of the northwest in the face of the climate crisis By Betsy Robblee, Conservation & Advocacy Director
Climbers on the Coleman Glacier. Photo by Emma Agosta.
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ew have directly witnessed the insidious change that our warming climate has wrought on the Pacific Northwest. Those who have seen the impacts are often outdoorspeople who have been intimately connected with the land for decades, watching as it slowly morphs under the pressure of a changing climate. Pat O’Brien is one of those people. An alpine climbing instructor for the Washington Alpine Club since the 1980s, Pat has seen the change most readily in mountaineers’ bread and butter: glacier travel. “One of the most glaring things I’ve watched over the years is the receding of the Coleman Glacier,” said Pat, who has been teaching an ice climbing course on the Lower Coleman for more than 30 years. He remarked that you used to be able to hike to the glacier overlook and descend on a trail directly onto the glacier. “I was once able to carry a student up it,” he joked. Where there was once a trail is now an abrupt cliff into the glacial moraine, and “where there used to be a large mass of ice, there is only broken rock.” Whether you talk to a longtime climber like Pat or look at photos
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mountaineer | summer 2021
from an old Mountaineers book, shrinking glaciers are one of the more obvious impacts of climate change in our wild places. A warming climate will also change our outdoor adventures in other ways, from smokier summer hikes to shorter, drizzlier ski seasons. While we can’t predict with certainty exactly what the future holds, scientists are in agreement that the changes we’ve begun to see in recent years are only projected to get worse. What does the global climate crisis mean for the future of our outdoor adventures? And how can outdoor enthusiasts make a difference?
Smokier summers In the Pacific Northwest, many of us patiently endure gray, wet winters for the promise of glorious summers. Unfortunately, recent summers have been cruelly shortened by late summer wildfires, resulting in forest closures and unhealthy smoke that obstructs our views and impacts our health. Warmer temperatures means drier summers and more severe
