The US Geological Survey released an updated report yesterday on three glaciers which it’s tracked since 1957. Unsurprisingly, it was bad news all round.

Gulkana and Wolverine, in Alaska, and South Cascade, in Washington, are ‘benchmark’ glaciers – the poster boys representing the trends of many other US glaciers. The South Cascade Glacier has lost nearly half of its volume and a quarter of its mass since 1958. The two others in the study, the Wolverine and Gulkana glaciers in Alaska, have both lost nearly 15% of their mass. (LA Times).

“All three of them have a different climate from the other two, yet all three are showing a similar pattern of behaviour, and that behaviour is mass loss,” said Shad O’Neel, a USGS glaciologist in Anchorage (Reuters).

What ‘s more, the rate at which they’re losing mass and volume thanks to melting ice has only increased over the last 15 years. In the 1970s and before, the maritime glaciers gained or lost net mass in synchrony with the oscillations of Pacific ocean surface temperatures and pressures. Now, it’s a straight dwindling for all three.

“There is no doubt that most mountain glaciers are shrinking worldwide in response to a warming climate,” added USGS scientist Edward Josberger, in a statement put out by the Department of the Interior.

Image: Retreat of South Cascade Glacier, Washington/USGS