Scientists discover Washington’s tallest mountain is SHRINKING

Scientists have made a startling discovery while exploring Washington’s tallest mountain – it is shrinking.

Mount Rainier has historically stood at 14,410 feet, but researchers found the volcanic mountain has decreased by 10 feet since 1998.

The drop in height was due to a drop in Rainier’s ancient ice cap, Columbia Crest, melting by nearly 22 feet.

An increase in fossil fuels and a warming climate likely contributed to the loss, with researchers reporting that Mount Rainier has lost 42 percent of its glacier ice in the last 120 years.

Mount Rainier is known for having the highest volcanic peak in the continental US and the largest glacier cave system in the world. 

But the discovery made by Erick Gilbertson, a mountaineer and mechanical engineer, on August 28 has changed the landscape of the Pacific Northwest.

‘The summit area of Mt Rainier has a crater rim that melts out to rock every summer, but there has historically been a permanent dome of ice on the west edge of the rim,’ he shared in a blog post. 

Mount Rainier was first measured in 1914, with its Columbia Crest deemed the tallest peak in Washington in 1956.

But Gilbertson’s new measurements suggested that Columbia Crest was knocked out of the top spot in 2014, surpassed by the southwest crater rim that stands at 14,399 feet tall.

Washington’s mountaintops height fluctuates throughout the year as ice builds on the peaks throughout the winter and melts in the summer, making it essential that surveyors document their altitude when the ice caps are at their lowest.

And that is why Gilbertson made the journey over the summer. 

‘Measuring at this time of year ensures seasonal snow does not count towards the summit elevation,’ Gilbertson told Newsweek. 

Mount Rainier’s peak, Columbia Crest, which was the highest in the state has shrunk by nearly 22 feet since 1998

About 40 percent of Washington’s mountaintops have lost their volume since 1984

His discovery at Mount Rainier led him to question if other ice-capped summits in Washington had undergone a similar transformation and visited these peaks to confirm his suspicions. 

On the north slope of Rainier sits Liberty Cap which has melted 26.3 feet since its last measurement in 2007, while Eldorado Peak located south of Diablo Lake is down 20 feet.

Gilbertson also checked Colfax Peak on the western slope of Mount Baker, and while the elevation appears to be the same, the lowest area between next to the peak has melted 16 feet in the last two years.

Mauri Pelto, a professor at Nichols College in Massachusetts, started conducting annual measurements on glaciers across Washington mountaintops, but said since 1984 about 40 percent have lost their volume.

Eric Gilbertson (left) hiked Mount Rainier in August and September and used a GPS survey unit to determine the mountain’s elevation

‘Obviously, we’ve watched a lot of them disappear,’ said Pelto, who teaches at Nichols College in Massachusetts, returning to Washington for his work every year.

He told the Seattle Times that the vast majority of the melting occurred in the last 24 years, indicating that it’s speeding up. 

‘We’ll still have mountains; we’ll still have snow in the winter,’ he said. ‘But without the glaciers, you’ve lost an important dynamic, and the mountains will be poorer for it.’

Gilbertson’s new measurements of Columbia Crest have not been officially confirmed and are still under consideration by Mount Rainier National Park who will decide to conduct a new survey of the mountain or accept his findings. 

Although Gilbertson didn’t state the cause, meteorologists have attributed the melting peaks to a warming atmosphere brought on by fossil fuels.

Year-over-year, researchers have reported heat records around the world, with this summer being the hottest in 175 years.

At this rate, Earth’s surface warming could increase by 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit as soon as 2040 – surpassing what’s considered to be a critical climate threshold and will continue to melt ice and snow-capped peaks around the world. 

‘There aren’t very many glaciers in the North Cascades that can survive the next 30 years,’ Pelto said.