Mt. Rainier is the Washington State’s 14,410 foot landmark. The height means the peak shoves itself into the upper storm streams that gained strength across the North Pacific. Its glaciers made it an excellent training ground for climbers aiming for the Himalayas. Those glaciers are melting. They’re melting faster than expected and bringing down the mountain with them. Volcanoes are not solid ground. Lava, and especially ash, are carved away and carried downstream, choking rivers and streams, and adding to floods during high altitude rains. As the climate warms, rain rather than snow is more likely. Nature changes, and civilization’s structures get swept away. For now, this means campgrounds and a few roads washed out. The infrastructure is fragile and it wouldn’t take much to close the park. Of course, it is a volcano. That is inevitable, so no problem. Right? Unfortunately, those glaciers may also be capping the peak. Hopefully, their melting doesn’t uncork the pressure producing a premature blow. In that case, a few washed out roads will be replaced with impacts felt for hundreds of miles around.
“Climate Change Is Changing Mt. Rainier” – The News Tribune
Pretending Not To Panic 
Unfortunately I think the climate changes are irreversible at this point. Glacier recession has too much momentum right now and even if global carbon emissions were cut in half tomorrow, the glaciers will continue to melt for the next several decades. Don’t like it, but there it is.
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