Glacier National Park removes signs warning that all its glaciers would melt by 2020

For more than 10 years, Glacier National Park in Montana had signs that said all of its namesake glaciers would be gone by 2020. Now it’s replacing the signs because the glaciers are still in place, though smaller.

The signs reflected climate change forecasts by the US Geological Survey, park spokesperson Gina Kurzmen told CNN.

The park was told in 2017 that the glaciers were no longer expected to be completely melted by 2020 but “tight maintenance budgets made it possible” to change the signs immediately, Kurzmen told CNN.

The new signs will say: “When they will completely disappear depends on how and when we act. One thing is consistent: the glaciers in the park are shrinking,” according to CNN.

Kurtzmen told MTN News that recent research shows that glaciers have been shrinking, but it’s “much more complex than what was predicted.” She says that the park will work with the US Geological Survey to continue to monitor the glaciers.

The signs at the Apgar, Logan Pass, and St. Mary visitor centers have already been updated, according to MTN News.

Glaciers across the globe have been shrinking over the years. Since 1961, glaciers have lost 9,000 billion tons of ice, causing sea levels to rise by 27 millimeters, according to a report by Science Daily.

There were around 150 glaciers when President Taft created Glacier National Park in 1910 and the number has dwindled down to fewer than 30, according to National Geographic.

The park has remained popular, with about 3 million visitors in 2018, statistics show.