Remarks by the President at Exit Glacier, Kenai Fjords National Park, AK

Exit Glacier
Kenai Fjords National Park
Alaska

THE PRESIDENT:  So you guys have been seeing these signs as we’ve walked that mark where the glacier used to be -- 1917, 1951.  This glacier has lost about a mile and a half over the last couple hundred years.  But the pace of the reductions of the glacier are accelerating rapidly each and every year.  And this is as good of a signpost of what we're dealing with when it comes to climate change as just about anything.  

This is one of the most studied glaciers because it’s so easily accessible.  But what it indicates, because of the changing patterns of winters with less snow, longer, hotter summers, is how rapidly the glacier is receding.  And it sends a message about the urgency that we're going to need to have when it comes to dealing with this, because, obviously, when the glaciers erode, that's also a sign of the amount of water that's being introduced into the oceans -- rising sea levels.  And the warming, generally is having an impact on the flora and fauna of this national park.  

It is spectacular, though.  And we want to make sure that our grandkids can see this.  

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