President Obama used a dramatic wilderness backdrop and melting glacier in Alaska to illustrate the urgency he says is needed to combat climate change.
Strolling down into Exit Glacier outlook, sun glinting off his aviator glasses, Obama called out to the press: “How’s this? Beats being in the office.”
But he sharply pivoted to making a political point. Gesturing to what appeared to be a river of blue and white flowing through the mountains, he noted that the two-mile stretch of solid ice has been shrinking at a rapid clip since 2008.
Signs mark the glacier’s retreat to its current state, dating to 1815.
“This is as good a signpost of what we’re dealing with when it comes to climate change as just about anything,” he said.
“This place has lost about a mile and a half over the last couple hundreds years. The reduction in glaciers has accelerated each and every year,” he added.
The president hiked up to the glacier, part of Kenai Fjords National Park, as part of his three-day tour of Alaska aimed at vividly displaying his arguments for curbing climate change.
Clad in a sporty coat and sunglasses, the president explained that when glaciers erode, the extra water is dumped into the ocean, causing sea levels to rise.
What the melting indicates, “because of changing patterns of winter and less snow and longer, hotter summers, is how rapidly the glacier is receding,” he said. “It sends a message.”
The trend toward a warmer climate in Alaska and around the world, he said, has “an impact on the flora and fauna of this national park.”
“It is spectacular,” the president said, referring to Exit Glacier. “We want to make sure that our grandkids can see this.”
The president, during his time in office, has committed the U.S. to cut emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases by up to 28 percent over the next decade. Most climate scientists blame those gases for causing manmade climate change. With the new U.S. pledge, he hopes to finalize a global climate treaty in December.
Later in the day, Obama planned to shoot an episode of the NBC reality TV show “Running Wild with Bear Grylls,” to receive a crash course in survival skills. He also planned to tour the national park aboard a U.S. Coast Guard vessel before returning to Anchorage Tuesday evening.
