Activity 2.2 - Cryosphere: Portage Glacier, Alaska

Original Photo: 1958

Portage Glacier: 2009

Portage Glacier: 2021

    1. Problem: 

    Above I have provided photos of a glacier called Portage Glacier located in Anchorage and Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska U.S. The images above also display what is called a "Cryosphere"  which means due to increasing increments of greenhouse gasses being added to the atmosphere by humans, the snow and ice are melting. The major problem is that there is a concern with economical and environmental uses throughout the world that later become consequences affecting everything around us. Cold regions of our planet influence the entire world's climate, it is an essential thing in a human's daily life. 

    2. Explanation:

    By going more into depth with the impacts that are occuring allowing the cryosphere to happen to our glaciers, I want to give you a brief explanation on some of the things that are affecting this action. The impacts of melting are skyrocketing because of the many environmental changes that are happening. A couple of impacts can include more burning fossil fuels and industrial processes, massive use of electricity and heat production, and agricultural land use. According to an article on National Geographic, "The cryosphere contains frozen parts of the planet. It includes snow and ice on land, ice caps, glaciers, permafrost, and sea ice. The sphere helps maintain Earth's climate by reflecting incoming solar radiation back into space" (Society 1.1). I have provided pictures above that allow you to see in a span of 63 years, how Portage Glacier is rapidly melting and decreasing from what it originally was in the year 1958. Portage Glacier is considered an Alpine Glacier because it is found at a high altitude and is flowing downhill in response to gravity. It has created a slope through a valley and the upper part of the glacier is partially growing through zone accumulation, the lower part of the glacier is melting which is called the zone of ablation. There are many things that we can do to prevent cryosphere from happening, but it all has to start with us to know how to prevent and when to start preventing the situation.

Work Cited:

NSIDC. “National Snow and Ice Data Center.” All About the Cryosphere | National Snow and Ice Data Center, NASA, 7 June 2009, https://nsidc.org/cryosphere/allaboutcryosphere.html.

Society, National Geographic. “Cryosphere.” National Geographic Society, Society, 8 Nov. 2016, https://www.nationalgeographic.org/topics/cryosphere/?q=&page=1&per_page=25.

Photo Links:

Original Photo by: Harley D. Nygren http://www.photolib.noaa.gov/htmls/corp1315.htm

             Portage Glacier 2009 Photo by: Josette https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:PortageGlacierJuly2009_1.JPG

How to See Portage Glacier:

https://www.alaska.org/detail/portage-glacier