Changing Course

Changing Course. Mount Rainier National Park. Not long ago, the waters of Kautz Creek filled this creek bed. Today only a small stream flows here. Kautz Creek has moved., Along with record rainfall, early November 2006 brought debris flows to several areas of the park. Not far from here, one of these flows rerouted Kautz Creek: coming to a stop at a high and narrow point in the creek bed, the debris flow dammed the creek. Diverted by this barrier, the rain-swollen creek carved a new course through the forest., Do the changes at Kautz Creek hint at the future of the Mount Rainier landscape? Over the last 5 years, park scientists have recorded an increase number of debris flows from small, south-facing glaciers. Scientists suggest this increase may be linked to global climate change: when changing weather patterns cause glaciers to melt, debris flows become more common. As global climate change reconfigures the glaciers and restructures weather patterns, the landscape of Mount Rainier will continue to be reshaped.