Glaciers are masses of ice that are melting and breaking apart due to rising temperatures. Lucky individuals have captured footage of glaciers calving, resulting in spectacular scenes such as mini tsunamis and towering chunks of ice crashing into water. Glaciers can be found worldwide, including in Chile, Argentina, Iceland, Greenland, Alaska, and Antarctica. Glaciers move at varying speeds and some glaciers produce 20 billion tons of ice falling into the ocean every year. The glaciers in Antarctica contain 80% of the world's fresh water reserves and if all of the ice were to melt, global sea levels would rise by 200 feet. The melting of glaciers is causing sea levels to rise and they are melting at an increasing rate, making massive calvings more common.
1. Glaciers are bodies of dense ice that move constantly under their own weight.
2. Glaciers create crevasses and unique geological features.
3. Due to rising temperatures, many of the world's glaciers are melting and breaking apart.
4. Some massive glacier calvings have been caught on camera.
5. Viedma Glacier in southern Patagonia, Columbia Glacier in Prince William Sound, Jacobs Haven Glacier, and Breda Mercurioco Glacier in Iceland have all experienced massive calvings.
6. Glaciers move anywhere from 60 to 100 feet per day and produce 20 billion tons of ice fall into the ocean every year.
7. Alaska has over 100,000 glaciers.
8. Antarctica is the coldest, driest, and windiest continent, covered by ice that's six thousand-two hundred feet thick on average.
9. 80% of the world's freshwater reserves are located in Antarctica.
10. Glaciers are losing an estimated 267 gigatons of ice each year.