Correlations of climate, mass balances, and glacial fluctuations at Mount Rainier, Washington, USA, since 1850.

Abstract

A monthly temperature and precipitation record, extending back to 1850, has been reconstructed for Longmire, Washington, on the SW flank of Mount Rainer. Calculated mass-balance variations agree with observed glacier behavior since 1850. Following periods of positive mass balances, trends toward more negative mass balances precede glacial recession with lag times to 1-5 yr. Analyses of the reconstructed record and former ice front positions suggest that much of a 1oC temperature rise since the latest Neoglacial advances occurred prior to 1850. Correlations of the Mount Rainier mass-balance record with similar ones from Norway and Antarctica indicate generally synchronous climatic trends in the Northern Hemisphere and opposing short-term trends in the Southern Hemisphere since 1850. -from Author