--- 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=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1592 og:image:height: 896 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=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # This Scary Animation Shows How Glacier National Park Is Losing Its Glaciers > Sponsored content. 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Future Proof is TIME's weekly climate and energy newsletter, written by senior correspondent Justin Worland. It connects the energy transition to the decisions reshaping business, technology, policy and markets. #### Where can I follow the energy transition as a business story? Future Proof covers climate and energy as an economic and business story rather than only an environmental one. It publishes every Friday and is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who writes Future Proof? Justin Worland, a senior correspondent at TIME and an award-winning climate journalist, writes Future Proof. #### Is Future Proof free? Yes. Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Marisa Gertz](https://time.com/author/marisa-gertz/) ## Marisa Gertz Jun 15, 2016 3:35 PM UTC  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](https://time.com/author/marisa-gertz/) ## Marisa Gertz Jun 15, 2016 3:35 PM UTC 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), 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) says that as time goes on, these [once massive ice features](http://time.com/4277148/antarctica-sea-level-rise/) 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/) has been one of the clearest indications of long term [climate change](http://time.com/96173/antarctic-glacier-loss-is-unstoppable-study-says/). ```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"}}]}] ```