--- title: Glacier National Park Could Be Glacier-Free by 2030 description: Worldwide, melting ice has been one of the clearest indictions of long term climate change. canonical: https://time.com/4369987/this-scary-animation-shows-how-glacier-national-park-is-losing-its-glaciers/ author: Marisa Gertz article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-06-15T15:35:16.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T22:37:30.749Z article:section: Science og:title: This Scary Animation Shows How Glacier National Park Is Losing Its Glaciers og:description: Glacier National Park could be glacier-free by 2030 og:url: https://time.com/4369987/this-scary-animation-shows-how-glacier-national-park-is-losing-its-glaciers/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4d50929958990b78/698897effb4eac67fd88dec6/glacier-national-park.gif?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: glacier-national-park og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This Scary Animation Shows How Glacier National Park Is Losing Its Glaciers twitter:description: Glacier National Park could be glacier-free by 2030 twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4d50929958990b78/698897effb4eac67fd88dec6/glacier-national-park.gif?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # This Scary Animation Shows How Glacier National Park Is Losing Its Glaciers by [Marisa Gertz](/author/marisa-gertz/) ## Marisa Gertz Jun 15, 2016 3:35 PM CUT  Montana's Glacier National Park on Aug. 17, 1984, and Aug. 23, 2015. Montana's Glacier National Park on Aug. 17, 1984, and Aug. 23, 2015.Jesse Allen—NASA Earth Observatory by [Marisa Gertz](/author/marisa-gertz/) ## Marisa Gertz Jun 15, 2016 3:35 PM CUT The Blackfoot-Jackson basin contains the largest concentration and the largest glaciers in Montana’s Glacier National Park. According to a [scientific study started in the 1990s](http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=88190&src=eorss-iotd "undefined"), the park could lose even its largest glaciers by 2030. This animation, using images from the Landsat 5 and 8 satellites, shows the glaciers’ retreat from 1984 to 2015. The blue in the images above represents “permanent” snow and ice. The red in the southeast corner is a burn scar from the Thompson forest fire. Research ecologist [Daniel Fagre](http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=88190&src=eorss-iotd "undefined") says that as time goes on, these [once massive ice features](http://time.com/4277148/antarctica-sea-level-rise/ "undefined") will become “small insignificant lumps of ice on the landscape.” “These tiny remnants could last 10 to 15 years past that time if they are in sheltered places, but the park will no longer really have viable glaciers,” Fagre says. Worldwide, [melting ice](http://time.com/4340269/antarctica-climate-change-ice-melt/ "undefined") has been one of the clearest indications of long term [climate change](http://time.com/96173/antarctic-glacier-loss-is-unstoppable-study-says/ "undefined"). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4369987/this-scary-animation-shows-how-glacier-national-park-is-losing-its-glaciers/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4369987/this-scary-animation-shows-how-glacier-national-park-is-losing-its-glaciers/"},"headline":"This Scary Animation Shows How Glacier National Park Is Losing Its Glaciers","datePublished":"2016-06-15T15:35:16.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T22:37:30.749Z","description":"Glacier National Park could be glacier-free by 2030","url":"https://time.com/4369987/this-scary-animation-shows-how-glacier-national-park-is-losing-its-glaciers/","keywords":["climate change","NASA"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4d50929958990b78/698897effb4eac67fd88dec6/glacier-national-park.gif?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Marisa Gertz","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/marisa-gertz/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4d50929958990b78/698897effb4eac67fd88dec6/glacier-national-park.gif?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"glacier-national-park","caption":"Montana's Glacier National Park on Aug. 17, 1984, and Aug. 23, 2015.","creditText":"Jesse Allen—NASA Earth Observatory","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4369987/this-scary-animation-shows-how-glacier-national-park-is-losing-its-glaciers/","name":"This Scary Animation Shows How Glacier National Park Is Losing Its Glaciers"}}]}] ```