Sometimes, life feels as though it has slowed to a crawl and become about as interesting as watching ice melt. However, no matter what happens, one part of the world will not stop: glaciers. Yes, glaciers move as slowly as an obstinate child on a Monday morning, yet they remain determined nonetheless. Their slow and
steady movement makes them incredibly fascinating, though dangerous as well.
Glaciers essentially act as nature’s giant ice cubes. Presently, they take up 10% of Earth’s surface and 2.1% of its water. Glaciers form through years of frozen precipitation that accumulates faster than it melts. Over time, the snow compacts into a solid slab of ice. These slabs of ice, whether formed on an ice sheet or a mountain, sluggishly drift across the land. This movement is unusual because, “Due to sheer mass, glaciers flow like very slow rivers”, as stated by the National Snow & Ice Data Center. Not all glaciers will grow to be as big and strong as Antarctica's Lambert-Fisher Glacier, but they’ll be at least as large as a football field, which might be a bit too hefty for an average individual’s ice box. Interestingly enough, glaciers can be found on nearly every continent. Though most common in areas where the ocean will always be on the rocks, such as the polar ice caps, they can still be found wherever substantial snowfall occurs.
These colossal popsicles can actually be rather scary. In recent years, through constant shifting, erosion, and rising average temperatures, their wrath has been awakened. Their rates of thawing have increased with global warming, causing rapid influxes of water that raise the sea level. Glaciers also promise the most danger when they loom over populated areas due to their tendency to fall to pieces. Depending on the location of a glacier at the time of its collapse, it can cause extensive flooding, avalanches, and the eternally infamous icebergs.
Icebergs, literally a chip off of the old block, have a presence in the ocean notorious for threatening any ships crossing through their domain. Historically, these frigid foes have given sailors more than just the cold shoulder. The Titanic may be the first ship that comes to mind, but many others sunk by icebergs have been recorded, some well before the 20th century. In 1686, as recorded by the site Ice Data, the ship Happy Return had its time at sea cut short after being tragically felled by an iceberg.
Simple in their composition, yet complex in their nature, glaciers throughout history have been beautiful sites for national parks and frightful forces of nature. As they slowly migrate to some unknown destination, they reveal parts of the Earth that hasn’t been seen for centuries. They bear richness in many things: history, beauty, awe, and most of all; water. Furthermore, if one piece of information should be learned from these brisk behemoths, it would be that no matter how painstakingly slow life seems to move, it hasn’t stopped yet.
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