glaciers have been shaping our world for
millions of years but as climate change
warms the planet glaciers are
disappearing
not only altering the landscapes they
leave behind but changing our oceans
weather and life on Earth as we know it
a glacier is a huge mass of ice that
moves slowly over land glaciers can be
classified into two general groups
alpine glaciers and ice sheets alpine
glaciers form on mountain sides and move
downwards through valleys sometimes they
create valleys by pushing dirt soil and
other materials out of their way these
glaciers are found on every continent
except Australia ice sheets
unlike alpine glaciers are not limited
to mountainous areas they form broad
domes and spread out from their centres
in all directions as ice sheets spread
they cover everything around them with a
thick blanket of ice including valleys
planes and even entire mountains the
largest ice sheets are called
continental glaciers they cover vast
areas including most of Antarctica and
the island of Greenland glaciers can
form over years when more snow piles up
and melts soon after falling the snow
begins to become denser and more tightly
packed when new snow falls and buries
the previous year’s snow the bottom
layer becomes even more compressed the
dense grainy ice that has survived one
year’s melt cycle is called fern when
the ice grows thick enough the fern
grains fuse into a huge mass called
glacial ice the glacier may begin to
move under its own weight through a
process called compression melting
as they move glaciers erode or wear away
the land beneath and around them when
glaciers began their latest retreat less
than 20,000 years ago they left behind
many landscape features such as lakes
valleys and mountains glaciers provide
people with many useful resources
glacial till provides fertile soil for
growing crops and deposits of sand and
gravel are used to make concrete and
asphalt many rivers are fed by the
melting ice of glaciers the most
important resource provided by glaciers
is freshwater Earth’s average
temperature has been increasing
dramatically for more than a century
glaciers can act as indicators of global
warming and climate change
in several ways melting ice sheets
contribute to rising sea levels as ice
sheets in Antarctica and Greenland melt
they raise sea levels adding fresh water
to the ocean every day the loss of
glacial ice also reduces the amount of
fresh water available for plants and
animals on land large editions of fresh
water change the ocean ecosystem as well
as ocean currents
additionally less salt in the ocean
could disturb the Gulf Stream
drastically changing the weather on land
as well since glaciers are so sensitive
to climate change the increased speed of
glacier melt is an early warning system
for the rest of the planet
and if global warming goes unchecked
many if not all alpine glaciers could
disappear completely
[Music]
[Music]
millions of years but as climate change
warms the planet glaciers are
disappearing
not only altering the landscapes they
leave behind but changing our oceans
weather and life on Earth as we know it
a glacier is a huge mass of ice that
moves slowly over land glaciers can be
classified into two general groups
alpine glaciers and ice sheets alpine
glaciers form on mountain sides and move
downwards through valleys sometimes they
create valleys by pushing dirt soil and
other materials out of their way these
glaciers are found on every continent
except Australia ice sheets
unlike alpine glaciers are not limited
to mountainous areas they form broad
domes and spread out from their centres
in all directions as ice sheets spread
they cover everything around them with a
thick blanket of ice including valleys
planes and even entire mountains the
largest ice sheets are called
continental glaciers they cover vast
areas including most of Antarctica and
the island of Greenland glaciers can
form over years when more snow piles up
and melts soon after falling the snow
begins to become denser and more tightly
packed when new snow falls and buries
the previous year’s snow the bottom
layer becomes even more compressed the
dense grainy ice that has survived one
year’s melt cycle is called fern when
the ice grows thick enough the fern
grains fuse into a huge mass called
glacial ice the glacier may begin to
move under its own weight through a
process called compression melting
as they move glaciers erode or wear away
the land beneath and around them when
glaciers began their latest retreat less
than 20,000 years ago they left behind
many landscape features such as lakes
valleys and mountains glaciers provide
people with many useful resources
glacial till provides fertile soil for
growing crops and deposits of sand and
gravel are used to make concrete and
asphalt many rivers are fed by the
melting ice of glaciers the most
important resource provided by glaciers
is freshwater Earth’s average
temperature has been increasing
dramatically for more than a century
glaciers can act as indicators of global
warming and climate change
in several ways melting ice sheets
contribute to rising sea levels as ice
sheets in Antarctica and Greenland melt
they raise sea levels adding fresh water
to the ocean every day the loss of
glacial ice also reduces the amount of
fresh water available for plants and
animals on land large editions of fresh
water change the ocean ecosystem as well
as ocean currents
additionally less salt in the ocean
could disturb the Gulf Stream
drastically changing the weather on land
as well since glaciers are so sensitive
to climate change the increased speed of
glacier melt is an early warning system
for the rest of the planet
and if global warming goes unchecked
many if not all alpine glaciers could
disappear completely
[Music]
[Music]
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