An Inconvenient Truth - Mendenhall Glacier

Last summer I actually had the opportunity to go to Alaska with my family. We went to see the famous Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau. It was most definitely a breath-taking sight. While watching An Inconvenient Truth, I noticed that Al Gore posted a picture of that same glacier.

Here are some of the picture I took on August 1, 2007:











Here is a picture of the same glacier on August 15, 2004:
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f1/Mendenhall_Glacier_2004_08_15.jpg)



















From these pictures you can see the how much the ice has receded in just 3 years. You can see that the rock formations from beneath the ice are more visible. I had this idea in my head that I would be able to walk on the glacier, but sadly, it has receded to extent that it is not possible from the visitor's center.

Now, I can conclude that the pictures of the glacier in the movie are legitimate although he presented a difference in the glacier of more than just three years. Seeing these glaciers with my own eyes really made me think about global warming to a greater extent.