Read about glaciers / Watch videos

LEARN MORE ABOUT GLACIERS AND CLIMATE CHANGE: TOPICS

	1) What is a glacier? A glacier is a year-round mass of ice that originates on land. Its area is usually larger than one tenth of a square kilometer…
	2) How does a glacier form? A glacier is formed from compacted layers of snow. When new layers of snow fall, previous layers compress into ice...
	3) What story does ice tell? In addition to warming temperatures, topography has been playing a role in the rapid flow speeds at Columbia Glacier.
	4) Types of glaciers (and how they behave) Alpine glaciers, also called mountain glaciers, are found throughout the world’s high mountains...
	5) Why do glaciers matter? Ice that took centuries to develop can vanish in just a few years...
	6) Glaciers and global warming Global warming is the increase in the average temperature of the Earth’s near-surface air and oceans since the mid-20th century and its projected continuation...
	7) Could this be a natural cycle? Throughout Earth’s history, ice caps and glaciers have grown and melted in response to changes in the Earth’s energy balance...
	8) Why didn’t scientists recognize global warming sooner? Some did. In 1958, the National Academy of Sciences published a booklet titled “Planet Earth: The Mystery with 100,000 Clues”…
	9) Other resources Glossary, Links, Resources for Teachers

LEARN MORE ABOUT GLACIERS AND CLIMATE CHANGE: VIDEOS

These time-lapse videos of glaciers in Alaska, Greenland and Iceland are narrated by EIS Director James Balog and Dr. Tad Pfeffer of the Institute for Arctic & Alpine Research at the University of Colorado. They are accompanied by text descriptions, location information and a photo of the actual time-lapse camera in the field.

	AK-01 “Kadin,” Columbia Glacier, Alaska During most of the two-year span of the video, the ice is moving at a pretty good clip, about 50 to 80 feet (15 to 24 meters) a day. Teaching points: crevasses and medial moraines
	AK-02 “Waterline,” Columbia Glacier, Alaska Over the past 25 years or so, global warming, melting and thinning of the ice have caused Columbia Glacier to lose its grip on its bed—about 1,500 feet below the water surface— and to accelerate and stretch. Teaching points: calving, terminus, ice below water, glacial dynamics
	AK-03 “Cliff,” Columbia Glacier, Alaska In addition to warming temperatures, topography plays a role in the rapid flow speeds at Columbia Glacier. Teaching points: effect of topography (squeezing) on ice flow
	AK-06 Mendenhall Glacier, Alaska A much smaller glacier than its Alaskan neighbor, Columbia, Mendenhall has been retreating steadily for a number of years. Teaching points: comparison of shapes of retreating and advancing glaciers, also sizes
	GL-03 Sermeq Avannarleq Glacier, Greenland At times the ocean water in this sequence appears gray, which is a result of sediment-laden fresh water seeping into the ocean from below the glacier. Teaching points: seasonal change, sediment in streams of water flowing under the glacier
	GL-05 Ilulissat Glacier, Greenland This huge glacier discharges more ice into the ocean than any other glacier in the Northern Hemisphere. Teaching points: size & speed, role of meltwater in lubricating glacier bed
	GL-A Rink Glacier, Greenland Rink Glacier is well above the Arctic Circle and temperatures dive down to -40 degrees Fahrenheit (-40 Celsius) for weeks at a time. Teaching points: comparison of Greenland & Alaska glacier dynamics
	IL-03 Svínafellsjökull, Iceland This is one of many glaciers that drain off the huge Vatnafjöll volcano, one of Iceland’s most active volcanoes. Teaching points: just watching the ice drop is pretty cool, volcanoes + glacier = flood
	IL-04 Sólheimajökull, Iceland Sólheimajökull (the name means “sun house glacier” in Icelandic) is disappearing very rapidly, but different dynamics are at work here than in the tidewater glaciers in Alaska and Greenland. Teaching points: difference between inland & tidewater glaciers (melting and erosion vs. calving)
	IL-05 Sólheimajökull, Iceland Crevasses, or deep fractures in the ice, are related to how fast and in which direction a glacier is flowing. Teaching points: crevasses parallel to flow, good visual of deflation
	Store Glacier June 9, 2007 Video Narrated Unlike most EIS time-lapse video, this sequence was shot in close to real time and shows a nine-minute-long calving event (the collapse of glacier ice into the sea) at Store Glacier in Greenland. Teaching points: dramatic visual of a massive calving event