America has new glacier despite global warming

Scientists have discovered a new glacier in North America despite rising temperatures worldwide, and surprisingly, it is nestled inside the crater of Mt. St. Helens in Washington State.

Mount St Helen’s hosts America’s newest glacier. Image by Ray Bouknight / CC BY 2.0

While the 1980 eruption destroyed neighboring glaciers, snow and ice began to gather on the cone in 1988 and was carving into the crater rim by 1996, thus classifying the mass as a glacier. In 2004, a slower eruption created a dome inside the crater that shields the glacier from the elements, allowing for more snow and ice to slide down the rim and for the ice to grow in size. Geologists have the chance to rappel down the glacier’s “Godzilla Hole” into a maze of tunnels formed by the hot gas rising from the volcano below, but hikers do not yet have access except for a guided tour to its base. Read more: cntraveler.com