The glacier extends through the Illulisat Icefjord, surrounded by mountains. Icebergs calve off from the main glacier, pile up and block the fjord before being released into Qeqertarsuup Tunua (Disko) Bay and Davis Strait. The whiter areas in the fjord are piledup icebergs and the “real” glacier ends where the greyish striped section ends – showing that this image is from 2001. The graph shows glacier-velocity profiles for 1985 to 2006. During th...

Glacier mass loss has been observed across the Arctic, consistent with the global trend.

Major glacier hazard locations

At the February 2001 meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), researchers reported dramatic changes in the volume of ice capping the Kibo summit of Kilimanjaro.This graphic shows the estimated extent of the glacier on Mount Kilimanjaro in 1912, and the extent of the glaciers there in 2002. The graphic also shows the decline in the total area of the ice from 1900 to 2000, with projected data to the year 2020.

Glaciers grow and retreat at intervals depending on local climate changes, particularly variations in temperature and precipitation . Retreating and diminishing mountain glaciers all over the world, except in the Antarctica, indicate a general trend of global warming.

Several mountain glaciers now disappear at a frightening rate as in the Santa Rosa glacier of Peru. A warmer climate often leads to increased precipitation. Much of the increased precipitation comes as rain instead of snow, mostly in the winter and to a lesser extent during the autumn and the spring. The winter rains fall over existing snow, causing increased melting. As the ice and snow cover is reduced, the albedo of the area is reduced as we...

Time series 1995-200 with ENSO index vs glacier.

Shows the retreat of the glacier on the volcano Nevado Santa Isabel and the correlation of global warming. With spectacular mountain peak glaciers melting away, the area becomes less attractive to tourists. In addition, the local forestry and agricultural fertility suffer.

Oceans change as a result of the impact of climatic variability on glaciers and ice caps that further contributes to fluctuation sin sea leve. Observational and modelling studies of glaciers and ice caps indicate an average sea level increase of 0.2 to 0.4 mm/yr during the 20th century. Since the Last Glacial Maximum about 20,000 years ago, sea level has risen by over 120 m at locations far from present and former ice sheets, as a result of los...

The Himalayas–Hindu Kush, Kunlun Shan, Pamir and Tien Shan mountain ranges function as water towers, providing water to people through much of Asia. The glacier-fed rivers originating from the Himalaya mountain ranges surrounding the Tibetan Plateau comprise the largest river run-off from any single location in the world. While the mountains are homes to some 170 million people, the rivers that drain these mountains influence the lives of about 4...

In Southern South America there are primarily three ice fields with major glaciers - the Northern and Southern Patagonian Icefield in the Andes, and then Cordillera Darwin in the very south. All of these are very vulnerable to changes in the climate.

Thirty reference glaciers with almost continuous mass balance measurements since 1975 show an average annual mass loss of 0.58 m water equivalent for the past decade (1996–2005), which is more than twice the loss rate of the period 1986–1995 (0.25 m), and more than four times the rate of the period 1976–1985 (0.14 m). The results from these 30 continuous mass balance series correspond well to estimates based on a larger sample of more tha...

Measurements on this valley-type glacier in the North Chuyskiy Range show a slightly negative annual mass balance trend culminating in an ice loss of about 4 m water equivalent over the period 1964–2005.

Close to 50 per cent of the glaciers in Africa, on the Rwenzori Mountains, Mount Kenya and Kilimanjaro have disappeared, while larger glaciers – particularly on Kilimanjaro – have been fragmented. Changes in glacier area and volume are being used as indicators for global warming and climate change.

Significant loss of glaciers in Central Asia began around the 1930s, and become more dramatic in the second half of the 20th century and continue into the 21st century. Glacier area was reduced in the Tien Shan and in the Pamirs, including its largest Fedchenko Glacier. The debris-covered glacier tongue retreated by more than 1 km since 1933 and lowered by about 50 m since 1980.

A new glacier inventory based on satellite data shows that the glacier cover reduced by about 22 per cent between the Little Ice Age (LIA) maximum extent and 2000. Changes in glacier area and volume are being used as indicators for climate change and global warming.

The Himalayas–Hindu Kush, Kunlun Shan, Pamir and Tien Shan mountain ranges function as water towers, providing water to people through much of Asia. The glacier-fed rivers originating from the Himalaya mountain ranges surrounding the Tibetan Plateau comprise the largest river run-off from any single location in the world. While the mountains are homes to some 170 million people, the rivers that drain these mountains influence the lives of about 4...

Glaciers and ice caps form around the world where snow deposited during the cold/humid season does not entirely melt during warm/dry times. This seasonal snow gradually becomes denser and transforms into perennial firn (rounded, well-bonded snow that is older than one year) and finally, after the air passages connecting the grains are closed off, into ice. The ice from such accumulation areas then flows under the influence of its own weight and t...

The ice cover in Greenland and Antarctica has two components – thick, grounded, inland ice that rests on a more or less solid bed, and thinner floating ice shelves and glacier tongues. An ice sheet is actually a giant glacier, and like most glaciers it is nourished by the continual accumulation of snow on its surface. As successive layers of snow build up, the layers beneath are gradually compressed into solid ice. Snow input is balanced by glaci...

The tropical Lewis Glacier retreated by more than 800 m between 1893 and 2004 and lost almost 16 m water equivalent of its thickness between 1979 and 1996. Located on Mount Kenya, this is one of few locations in Africa with glaciers.