This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Three much-loved glaciers in British Columbia are set to disappear completely within a few decades, according to a Simon Fraser University study. Once famous across North America for summer skiing, Whistler Glacier and Horstman Glacier have decreased in size by 95% and 75%, respectively, in the last five decades, while Blackcomb Glacier has lost around 60% of its area.
The decline of Whistler Glacier has been so pronounced that it is considered a relict glacier. Researchers expect it to disappear entirely within 10 years, although technically, it could already be extinct. Horstman Glacier, located on Blackcomb Peak, will likely disappear within 10 to 30 years, and Blackcomb Glacier within 20 to 70 years.
"Given how much temperatures have been increasing, the findings are not surprising, but that does not make it any less sad," says Chloé Monty, an SFU master's student in glaciology who led the research. "It was shocking to see how much the glaciers have shrunk when compared to images from the 1970s. "They are shrinking almost in real time when glacier change should be nearly imperceptible on human timescales.
"These glaciers are an important feature in the area, both culturally and environmentally, but also in terms of what they bring to the local economy and the resort." The research, published in Annals of Glaciology, used aerial and satellite imagery dating from 1973–2024 to map the changing size of the glaciers. The study found: Glaciologists use a number of factors to determine whether a glacier still qualifies as a glacier, one of which is its area. There are two commonly used thresholds when mapping the area of a glacier: 0.05 km² and 0.01 km².
SFU researchers say Whistler Glacier, which has now fragmented into multiple small ice masses, fell below the first threshold in 2015 and will likely fall below the second threshold in the near future. Once glaciers fall below these thresholds, they could instead be classified as "ice patches," although glaciologists are still debating the terminology used to describe former glaciers. "Technically, Whistler Glacier is a relict glacier.
That depends on your definition," says Monty. "The question is really when will it get to zero ice." The researchers used a degree-day model and three future climate scenarios to gauge how fast the glacier ice will melt. In other words, the warmer it is, the more the glacier ice will melt.
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