Glaciers have been a crucial element to the health of Oregon’s rivers and streams and for humans. The increase in global and local temperatures has caused most glaciers in the Pacific Northwest to melt and shrink, reducing stream output and increasing sediment deposition. How will melting glaciers affect life in the Pacific Northwest if glaciers continue to retreat at the rate they are? It is known that melting glaciers drop sediment that had been previously frozen in the ice, and that glacial melt is important for rivers and streams late in the summer when there is less rainfall. However, what is less clear is how these changes in glacial volumes and melting cycles will affect human life. In order to find this out, a variety of research papers on glacial hydrology, river hydrology and sedimentology were used to piece together probable outcomes and scenarios that could and have come from retreating glaciers. Since nothing can be 100 percent certain in this project, and in the research papers, there is some speculation and debate as to what the future may hold for glaciers. One thing that is for certain is that change is coming, and preparations need to be made.
Mentor: Melinda Shimizu
