Overview

Why Earth's Newest Glacier Is Inside An Active Volcano

On the morning of May 18, 1980, Mt. St. Helens volcano exploded with 500 times the force of the Hiroshima bomb. It was the most destructive eruption in U.S. history. The cataclysmic chain of events killed 57 people and thousands of animals, took out 250 homes, 47 bridges, and 185 miles of highway, and flooded valleys. The mountain’s north side collapsed leaving a yawning crater the size of downtown Seattle. To this day, the crater of Mt. St. Helens volcano remains a place of immense danger and strictly off-limits to the public — avalanches, crevasses, poison gas, and boulders tumbling down the near-vertical slopes are just a few of the threats. But in recent years, the crater has become a place of great scientific interest. Few people realize that the hollowed-out crater now holds the world’s youngest glacier. And it continues to grow while most others around the world are shrinking.