Definitions and answers
1. What is a glacier?
Glaciers are rivers of ice, which are formed by the persistence of fallen snow over a long period of time, which eventually compresses into thick ice masses. Official classifications can vary, but a glacier is generally considered to be an ice mass with an area ≥100 m2 and an ice depth of approximately ≥50 m. Some glaciers are as small as soccer fields, while just parts of those in Antarctica can be as large as entire cities… read more…
2. Why are glaciers important?
Glaciers are a important part, worldwide, of the natural water cycle and the balance of energy. Glaciers typically get the most news headlines related to big events at large scales in Greenland and Antarctica. These events are crucially important to the future of low-lying communities around the world because loss of glacier ice contributes to an increasing average elevation of the sea level… read more…
3. Why are glaciers melting?
Glaciers survive, thrive, melt, fragment and disappear, all as result of its mass balance (read about glacier mass balance here). Like many things on Earth, the life of a glacier is in fine balance with the local climate. 1) Winter prevails, temperatures are cold and snow falls, some of it forming into glacier ice. 2) Summer arrives, temperatures rise and snow and glacier ice melts away. Repeat… read more…
4. What will happen if glaciers melt completely?
Glacier ice is a very important part of our global system. It provides drinking water and a vital source of water for agriculture, hydropower and industry in many parts of the populated world. But what would be the reality if all of worlds glacier ice disappears?… read more…
5. What is the current state of Chilean glaciers?
The trend in the mass balance of glaciers in Chile is similar to that in most parts of the world: decrease in the area of glaciers, retreat and disappearance of many small mountain glaciers. Chile is a typically understudied region of the global glacier monitoring project… read more…
6. Where can we find glaciers in Chile?
Most of the glaciers in Chile (and South America) are located in Patagonia. Normally when Chilean glaciers are mentioned, one thinks of the expansive South Patagonian Icefield (which is the third largest single ice mass after Antarctic and Greenland). However, the story is much more interesting than that. Glacier existence is controlled by temperature, snowfall and balance. Therefore, their presence is limited by both latitude (distance from the equator) and altitude (height above the level of the sea)… read more…
7. What types of glaciers exist in Chile?
There are several different types of glaciers in the world, which are formed from different processes, dependent upon the geography and local conditions of climate and landscape. These can range from huge ice sheets of Antarctica that are kilometres deep, to small mountain glacierets of the Pyrenees which can be mistaken for patches of snow. A general classification of types for “white glaciers” can include valley glaciers, tidewater glaciers, piedmont glaciers… read more…
8. Why is glacial ice blue?
Glacier ice appears blue to us for the same reason that the ocean appears to be blue. The wavelengths of the visible spectrum of light that are red and green (500-740 nm) are preferentially absorbed by water and ice, meanwhile… read more…
9. What impacts can a tourist visit to a glacier have?
Desperate to get a view of those impressive glaciers before they disappear? You aren’t alone. In many parts of the European Alps, China, New Zealand and North America, increasing numbers of people are flocking to see what soon might not be there… or at least what might be a shadow of its former glory… read more…