Obama visits receding glacier in Alaska to highlight climate change

Standing in front of a gravelly creek bed, he said that when glaciers retreat, the water runs down and raises sea levels, altering the flora and fauna of the park.

On the second day of a trip devoted to highlighting the effects of climate change, the president traveled here by helicopter from Anchorage and went on to take a short hike up to the face of Exit Glacier, a massive 2-mile-long ice block that flows down from the larger Harding Icefield.

“Climate change is the primary driver for the retreat,” said Deborah Kurtz, physical science program manager for Kenai Fjords National Park.

In his speech on Monday at the Anchorage conference of ministers and officials from Arctic nations, Obama used a measurement made by one scientist to describe the scale of melting glaciers in Alaska.

[...] Tuesday, Obama said he will ask Congress for money to build additional ice breakers for the Coast Guard, in an effort to keep up with ship traffic that is increasing as the Arctic waters off Alaska grow warmer.