Green Junction - A Glacier's Warning: Reflections on Climate Change from Alaska

We recently had the privilege of viewing the coast of Alaska and witnessing a glacier and its evident decline in size. Dawes Glacier, near Juneau, is an awesome site, but also a clear indicator of our changing climate. The international assembly of people on the cruise ship was united in its awe of the glacier. Simultaneously, there was an eerie understanding that for decades, the amount of ice in this area has been decreasing at a more rapid pace.

Studies show that Alaskan icefields are likely more vulnerable to accelerated ice melting with rising global temperatures. For example, scientists explain that much of the ice in Alaska’s ice fields are top heavy or a plateau type. These flat ice caps and icefields cannot retreat to higher elevations to re-establish the ice. Over the past 30 years, Alaskan and Western Canadian glaciers were the largest contributors to ice loss and sea level rise (8 mm from 1961–2016). Scientists expect that around 30% of glacier ice will disappear from Alaska by the year 2100. Overall, the amount of global ice melting, in line with the Paris Agreement emission policies, is predicted to cause an additional 25 cm sea level rise by 2100.

The global rise in temperature has been leaving its mark more prominently in these colder regions of the planet. The effects of climate change can create positive feedback loops, such as release of methane gas from permafrost, that further disrupt global systems, leading to more severe weather, droughts, floods and more. 

"Johan Rockström, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, stated in a 2025 commentary “The human pressure on the planet has now reached a crisis point. The era where we can continue with economic growth without putting the stability of planet at risk has come to an end.” Rockström added that “these pressures on the planet are now at risk of causing irreversible, potentially catastrophic tipping points.”

The impactful observation of a disappearing glacier is a reminder of the way our Common Home (Pope Francis’s phrase for our earth) requires respect and care. We share and utilize the earth’s natural resources, but need to constantly remember that they are not immune from destruction.