Climate change is resulting in a consistent increase in glacier melt rates. As glaciers lose mass, we can observe quantifiable changes in average global temperature and sea level rise. The driving factors behind diminishing ice reserves left over from the last ice age are almost entirely climate change related, so the solutions are similarly oriented.

Explore what glaciers are, why we should care about them, and efforts to conserve them.

Glaciers are classified by their size, location, and structure:

Valley Glaciers: As the name implies, these glaciers tend to form in valleys. They can often form a river of ice that can travel large distances off of the mountain (which is usually the source) and sometimes reach ocean.

Tidewater Glaciers: These are ocean front glaciers, which contribute small glaciers from time to time in a process called calving.

Piedmont Glaciers: This glacier forms when valley glaciers spill out onto a relatively flat terrain, where it pools. I like to call these blob glaciers.

Hanging Glaciers: These are glaciers that like to live on the edge. Literally. They can be found hanging off of cliffs or other scary places, usually a result of a retreating glacier that has left a gap underneath, or a spillover from a valley glacier.

Cirque Glaciers: These glaciers fill holes or basins and typically end up lake shaped. They tend to encompass a wide variety of shapes and sizes.

Ice Caps: They are usually found near the poles and can be thought of as ice sheets' little sister. Simply a smaller classification of ice sheets, which are still really big in my opinion, "covering less than 50,000 square kilometers (19,305 square miles). They form primarily in polar and sub-polar regions and are smaller than continental-scale ice sheets." (NSIDC, 2020)

There are quite a few classifications of glaciers that are worth mentioning (Ice Fields, Ice Streams, Ice Sheets, Ice Shelves), but the point in including all of these definitions is to highlight the fact that these formations are a significant factor when considering their potential to contribute to sea level rise.

The proposed solutions come in the form of conservation and occasionally restoration. The main focus that has been adopted by the majority of glacier conservationists is centered on climate change. Climate change is the driving force behind ice loss and the main solutions being brought forward to help are tied directly to national commitments to tackling their own issues (climate action plans, for example).

Along with large political agreements, there is an army of scientists out there collecting data and proposing solutions every day and I would like to pay special attention to a ray of light that has brought this issue into the forefront of contemporary environmental research... that's right, you guessed it. It's the WORLD GLACIER MONITERING SERVICE! The WGMS provides a wonderful amount of data in a few easy to use and super convenient methods, one of which is an interactive display of glacier fluctuations that is really cool: https://wgms.ch/fogbrowser/. They are working directly with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to help identify and solve the threats facing our world's supply of ice.

Along with the wonderful data collection happening in the aforementioned resource, I want to end your scholastic journey with another ray of light that has landed a coveted spot in the center of climate change. Extreme E is a movement that is getting people excited about being a part of the resistance against climate change, specifically fossil fuels. They race electric vehicles around the world and highlight a specific threat to our environmental integrity, this one being targeted at glaciers. I cannot stress enough how important this program is to bringing attention to the existential threat that has the potential destroy life as we know it.