Obama hikes rapidly retreating Alaska glacier to raise awareness about climate change

  • The president trekked up Exit Glacier on Tuesday as part of his three-day tour to campaign for climate change
  • Exit Glacier, located in Kenai Fjords National Park, has retreated more than 800-feet since 2008 
  • Obama described the glacier as 'spectacular' and said 'we want to make sure our grandkids can see this'  

By Associated Press

Published: 21:38 EST, 1 September 2015 | Updated: 23:33 EST, 1 September 2015

President Barack Obama stared down a melting glacier in Alaska on Tuesday in a dramatic use of his presidential pulpit to sound the alarm on climate change. 

Obama trekked up to Exit Glacier to call attention to the ways human activity is degrading cherished natural wonders.

The visit to Kenai Fjords National Park, where the glacier is located, formed the apex of Obama's three-day tour of Alaska, his most concerted campaign yet on climate change.

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President Barack Obama trekked up to Exit Glacier on Tuesday to sound the alarm on climate change and call attention to the ways human activity is degrading cherished natural wonders 

President Barack Obama trekked up to Exit Glacier on Tuesday to sound the alarm on climate change and call attention to the ways human activity is degrading cherished natural wonders 

The visit to Kenai Fjords National Park, where the glacier is located, formed the apex of Obama's three-day tour of Alaska, his most concerted campaign yet on climate change

The visit to Kenai Fjords National Park, where the glacier is located, formed the apex of Obama's three-day tour of Alaska, his most concerted campaign yet on climate change

From a distance, Exit Glacier appears as a river of white and blue flowing down through the mountains toward lower terrain. 

In fact, it's just the opposite. The 2-mile-long chock of solid ice has been retreating at a faster and faster pace in recent years - more than 800-feet since 2008, satellite tracking shows.

'This is as good of a signpost of what we're dealing with when it comes to climate change as just about anything,' Obama said, the iconic glacier at his back. 

The president, dressed for the elements in a rugged coat and sunglasses, observed how signposts along the hike recorded where the glacier once stood and now only dry land remains.

'We want to make sure that our grandkids can see this,' Obama said, describing the glacier as 'spectacular.' 

Obama is counting on Alaska's exquisite but deteriorating landscape to elicit a sense of urgency for his call to action on climate change. 

He opened the trip on Monday night with a speech painting a doomsday scenario for the world barring urgent steps to cut emissions: entire nations submerged underwater, cities abandoned and refugees fleeing in droves as conflict breaks out across the globe.

From a distance, Exit Glacier appears as a river of white and blue flowing down through the mountains toward lower terrain

From a distance, Exit Glacier appears as a river of white and blue flowing down through the mountains toward lower terrain

But it's just the opposite. The 2-mile-long chock of solid ice has been retreating at a faster and faster pace in recent years - more than 800 feet since 2008, satellite tracking shows

But it's just the opposite. The 2-mile-long chock of solid ice has been retreating at a faster and faster pace in recent years - more than 800 feet since 2008, satellite tracking shows

Exit Glacier has been receding for decades at an alarming rate of 43 feet a year, according to the National Park Service, which has been monitoring its retreat for decades using photography and satellite.

Glaciers ebb and flow due to normal fluctuations in the climate, and even without human activity, Exit Glacier would be retreating. 

But the pace of its retreat has been sped up thanks to heat-trapping greenhouse gases blamed for global warming, said Deborah Kurtz of the National Park Service.

'Climate is the primary driver for the retreat of glaciers and for ice loss,' Kurtz said.

Exit Glacier's retreat is rapid, but it is disappearing no where near as fast as Kivalina, an Alaskan coastal village that is getting smaller with every storm. 

The town of 403 residents, located 83 miles above the Arctic Circle, where beaches are disappearing and ice is melting, could be underwater by 2025, according to the Army Corps of Engineers. 

There is no room left for new properties and even graves are banned on the coastal village located on an island that separates the Chukchi Sea, according to the Los Angeles Times. 

This is not due to rising sea levels but because the island has eroded - it is six to ten feet above sea level, which continues rising. The island used to be more than 400 feet above sea level.

'This is as good of a signpost of what we're dealing with when it comes to climate change as just about anything,' Obama said of the iconic glacier

'This is as good of a signpost of what we're dealing with when it comes to climate change as just about anything,' Obama said of the iconic glacier

Exit Glacier has been receding for decades at an alarming rate of 43 feet a year, according to the National Park Service, which has been monitoring its retreat for decades using photography and satellite

Exit Glacier has been receding for decades at an alarming rate of 43 feet a year, according to the National Park Service, which has been monitoring its retreat for decades using photography and satellite

Once protected from early winter storms by a natural barrier of sea ice, Kivalina has been ravaged in recent decades by erosion because climate warming prevents ice from forming until later in the winter. 

The White House cased the island earlier this summer to see if it would be possible for Obama to visit during his trip to the Arctic this week. 

Obama is currently scheduled to visit Kotzebue, which is less than 100 miles away and in the heart of Alaska's Northwest Arctic Borough.   

The president's trip was more about visuals than words, and the White House has put a particular emphasis on trying to get the message across to audiences who don't follow the news through traditional means.

To that end, Obama taped an episode of the NBC reality TV show 'Running Wild with Bear Grylls,' putting his survival skills to the test while in the national park.

Obama's first glimpse of a glacier on the trip came as Marine One whisked him about 45 minutes south of Anchorage to tiny Seward. 

As he flew past snow-capped peaks and sprawling forests, the sheet of ice emerged, snaking its way through mountains toward a teal-tinged lake.

His itinerary also includes the first presidential visit to the Alaska Arctic, which comes amid concerns that the U.S. has ceded influence to Russia in strategic Arctic waters. 

Melting sea ice has been making way for shipping routes that never existed before, but the U.S. only has two working icebreakers, compared to the 40 in Russia's fleet - with another 11 on the way.

As he arrived for the boat tour, Obama said he was asking Congress to speed up construction of new icebreakers. He offered few details about the timeline or costs.

Glaciers ebb and flow due to normal fluctuations in the climate, and even without human activity, Exit Glacier would be retreating. But the pace of its retreat has been sped up thanks to heat-trapping greenhouse gases blamed for global warming

Glaciers ebb and flow due to normal fluctuations in the climate, and even without human activity, Exit Glacier would be retreating. But the pace of its retreat has been sped up thanks to heat-trapping greenhouse gases blamed for global warming

Obama's trip was more about visuals than words, and the White House has put a particular emphasis on trying to get the message across to audiences who don't follow the news through traditional means

Obama's trip was more about visuals than words, and the White House has put a particular emphasis on trying to get the message across to audiences who don't follow the news through traditional means

'These icebreakers are an example of something that we need to get online now,' Obama said. 

'They can't wait.'

Although Obama's trip hasn't entailed new policy prescriptions or federal efforts to slow global warming, Obama has said the U.S. is doing its part by pledging to cut carbon dioxide emissions up to 28 percent over the next decade.

Obama set that target as America's commitment to a pending global climate treaty that the president hopes will be a capstone to his environmental legacy.

Despite his efforts, the U.S. isn't a shining example when it comes to greenhouse gases. 

Each American emits more than twice as much carbon dioxide as a Chinese and 10 times that of someone from India, Energy Department figures show. 

China, the U.S. and India are the world's top three polluters.

Exit Glacier's retreat is rapid, but it is disappearing no where near as fast as Kivalina, an Alaskan coastal village that is getting smaller with every storm and could disappear completely by 2025  

Exit Glacier's retreat is rapid, but it is disappearing no where near as fast as Kivalina, an Alaskan coastal village that is getting smaller with every storm and could disappear completely by 2025  

OBAMA SEEKS MORE US COAST GUARD ICEBREAKERS AS AMERICA PLAYS CATCH-UP WITH RUSSIA IN THE ARCTIC  

On Tuesday President Obama said he was asking Congress to speed up construction of new icebreakers, offering few details about the timeline or costs.

'These icebreakers are an example of something that we need to get online now,' Obama said.'They can't wait.'

The U.S. currently only has two functioning ice breakers, a paltry number compared to the 41 held by Russia - which is already planning to build 11 more. 

Melting ice in the Arctic north has turned into a race for access to new shipping routes, as well as the forty percent of the world's oil and natural gas reserves that lie under the Arctic. 

Obama's announcement has been seen as a realization that America needs to catch up. 

Just last March Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered 40,000 Russian troops and dozens of warships and submarines to Russia's Arctic North, re-establishing Soviet-era military bases around the area. 

Russia also pulled out of the Arctic Council, which is made up of eight countries including the U.S., after invading Ukraine. 

'Clearly the Arctic is a priority for Russia,' said U.S. Coast Guard Adm. Paul Zukunft in February. 

'There's a new ocean opening. Coast Guard authorities mandate our presence wherever U.S. national interests require people and ships to operate.' 

Source: Fox News 

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