Mendenhall Glacier (AK) Will Retreat Out Of Its Lake In Next Few Years

JUNEAU -- It may not take much longer for one of the world's most visited glaciers to calve and melt out of its scenic toehold in Mendenhall Lake.

The Mendenhall Glacier could come out of the lake "in the next few years or less," said Roman Motyka, a University of Alaska Fairbanks glaciologist based in Juneau. The glacier's hasty retreat -- 656 feet lost on its east side in 2004 and 269 feet lost on its west side this year -- is attracting a lot of curiosity from visitors around the world, federal tourism officials said this week.

About 366,000 people visited the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center this year. More than ever before, "we got the question, is the glacier melting because of global warming?" said Laurie Craig, a naturalist at the visitor center, which is operated by the U.S. Forest Service.

Craig and her colleagues at the center said this week that they want to begin providing visitors with scientific resources that help answer their questions about the causes, as well as the potential effects, of the glacier's retreat.

"We're not qualified to say this," Craig said. "We want (to provide visitors) the sources."

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