Alaskan Icefields are in Jeopardy By Julie Peller, Ph.D.

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 sense that, for decades, the amount of ice in this area has been decreasing at an accelerating rate.

Studies show that Alaskan icefields are likely more vulnerable to accelerated ice melt as global temperatures rise. For example, scientists explain that much of the ice in Alaska’s ice fields is 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 to 2016). Scientists expect that around 30% of glacier ice in Alaska will disappear by the year 2100. Overall, the amount of global ice melting, in line with the Paris Agreement’s emissions policies, is projected to cause an additional 25 cm of 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 the 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 the 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 striking observation of a disappearing glacier is a reminder that our Common Home (Pope Francis’s phrase for our earth) requires respect and care. We share and utilize the earth’s natural resources, but we need to constantly remember that they are not immune to destruction.

Julie Peller, Ph.D., is an environmental chemist (Professor of Chemistry at Valparaiso University). She has been writing a weekly column, The Green Junction, for the past seven years and is helping to move the call of Laudato Si to action. Her research interests include advanced oxidation for aqueous solutions, water quality analyses, emerging contaminants, air quality analyses, challenges along the Lake Michigan shoreline (such as Cladophora, water, and sediment contaminants), and student and citizen participation in environmental work.