In response to Montana Glaciers 1, Climate Hysterics 0

John, the sign-makers up in Montana should be careful with their words. So should we. If the Montana glaciers had been merely decimated — reduced by 10 percent — then they would be in considerably better shape than they are today, having been reduced, on average, by about 40 percent. Some of them have disappeared entirely or have shrunk to the point that they no longer can be characterized as glaciers, so it is not the case that “the glaciers are, as of this writing, very much still there.” Not all of them, anyway. So, even accounting for poetic headline-writing license, I do not think that “Montana Glaciers 1, Climate Hysterics 0” is quite right.


And, of course, it’s not just one park in Montana: Switzerland’s glaciers have been decimated and then some in the past five years. Alaska’s glaciers are in rapid retreat. Etc.

We may disagree with some environmentalists about the policy implications of this, but we ought to be clear about what is actually happening.