00:00Mount Rainier's summit shifts as climate change melts its icy crown.
00:04Mount Rainier has always looked permanent.
00:07A giant white crown above Washington.
00:10A volcano wrapped in glaciers.
00:13A landmark so dominant that people simply call it the mountain.
00:17But even Rainier is changing.
00:20For decades, the highest point was known as Columbia Crest,
00:23an ice-covered summit dome near the top of the volcano.
00:26Now, surveys show that Columbia Crest has melted down by more than 20 feet since the late 1990s.
00:34That loss was enough to change the mountain's highest point.
00:37The old ice summit is no longer the true top.
00:41Instead, the highest point has shifted south to a rocky area on the southwest rim.
00:47That sounds almost impossible.
00:49How does a mountain lose its crown?
00:52The answer is ice.
00:54Mount Rainier is still a massive volcano, but parts of its summit height came from permanent snow and ice.
00:59As that ice thins, melts, and lowers, the official high point can change even if the rock underneath has not
01:06collapsed.
01:07This is not just a trivia update for climbers.
01:11It is a climate signal.
01:13Mount Rainier is the most heavily glaciated peak in the lower 48 states,
01:18and its glaciers feed rivers, shape hazards, support ecosystems, and define the mountain's identity.
01:24When summit ice melts, it shows that warming is reaching even the highest, coldest places.
01:31The change also matters for maps, records, surveys, and mountaineering routes.
01:36Climbers who once aimed for Columbia Crest may now be looking at a different true summit.
01:41But the deeper meaning is harder to ignore.
01:46A mountain that seemed eternal has visibly changed within a human lifetime.
01:52Rainier did not erupt.
01:53It did not crack open.
01:55It simply melted enough for its crown to move.
01:58And that may be the most unsettling part of all.
Comments