These photos from the Glacier Photograph Collection show a dramatic loss of glacial ice over several decades that has radically changed the landscape. They are an important historical record for researchers studying the response of glaciers to climate change.
More than 15,000 photographs of glaciers in the Rocky Mountains, Alaska, Pacific Northwest, and the Rocky Mountains are in the database which contains photos dating back to the mid-1800s.
In the United States, glaciers cover over 75,000 square kilometres, with most of the glaciers located in Alaska, according to the National Snow & Ice Data Center.
Within the National Snow & Ice Data Center collection are a smaller group of glacier photos from Europe, South America, the Himalayas, and Antarctica.
McCall Glacier, Alaska
Bear Glacier, Alaska
Muir Glacier, Alaska
Okpilak Glacier, Alaska
Glaciers in the Rockies could shrink 90 percent by 2100
Pedersen Glacier, Alaska
Toboggan Glacier, Alaska
Visit the National Snow & Ice Data Center for some quick facts about glacial ice.
National Snow and Ice Data Center (comp.). 2002, updated 2019. Glacier Photograph Collection, Version 1. [From the Glacier Photograph Collection]. Boulder, Colorado USA. NSIDC: National Snow and Ice Data Center. doi: https://doi.org/10.7265/N5/NSIDC-GPC-2009-12. [Nov. 29, 2019].
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