12 Vanishing Glaciers Across the Globe

The world’s glaciers—vast expanses of moving ice—cover approximately 10 percent of Earth’s surface and hold nearly 70 percent of the planet's fresh water. However, these frozen giants, present on every continent except Australia, are disappearing. Driven by global warming, around 28 trillion tons of ice has been lost since the mid-1990s, with 1.2 trillion tons melting away every year. Here are a few glaciers from across the globe that are retreating at alarming speeds.

1. Furtwängler Glacier // Tanzania

Standing at 3.7 miles above sea level in Tanzania, Africa’s tallest peak, Kilimanjaro, was once surrounded by tropical glaciers framing its central Kibo caldera throughout the 19th century. In recent years, however, glaciers clinging to Kibo have suffered the loss of around 90 percent of their mass due to sublimation, where ice evaporates directly into vapor without melting. Furtwängler Glacier, the largest on Kilimanjaro, is now a thin wall of ice. It shrank by nearly 70 percent between 2014 and 2020, and experts predict it will soon disappear.

2. Pine Island and Thwaites Glaciers // Antarctica

The Antarctic Ice Sheet holds 7.2 million cubic miles of ice, and its flow is governed by numerous “ice streams” that direct ice towards the ocean. Among the largest and most unstable are Pine Island Glacier (PIG) and its neighboring Thwaites Glacier, which serve as the primary conduits for ice entering the Amundsen Sea. This section alone holds enough ice to raise global sea levels by 4 feet. PIG alone sheds roughly 58 billion tons of ice annually.

3. Siachen Glacier // India

The 54,000 glaciers of the Hindu Kush Himalayas (HKH), stretching across eight countries from Pakistan to central China, provide water to 10 major river basins and sustain about 1.65 billion people. The loss of these glaciers endangers the region's communities. Between 1975 and 2000, glaciers in the HKH region lost an average of 10 inches per year, with the rate doubling between 2000 and 2016. Siachen Glacier, the longest in the Indian Himalayas and the second longest in the world outside the polar regions, is part of this fragile system.

4. Aletsch Glacier // Switzerland

Aletsch, the largest glacier in the Alps, has receded by nearly two miles since 1870. This ice river, along with more than 1500 other glaciers in Switzerland, has lost 60 percent of its volume since 1850. Popular activities are also being impacted. A 2019 study published in the journal Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research examined 95 regional mountaineering routes. Of these, 93 have been “affected” by climate change, with 26 experiencing “significant effects.” Three of the routes no longer exist at all.

5. Mer de Glace // France

Mer de Glace, the largest glacier in France and the second longest in the Alps, lies near Mont Blanc, the highest peak in the range. Visitors to this site can witness the dramatic retreat of the glacier. Since the 1900s, it has receded by a third, losing a total of 1.5 cubic kilometers—roughly equivalent to “half a million Olympic swimming pools” of ice, according to Bloomberg. In 1988, tourists could step off a cable car and walk just three steps to reach the ice. By 2000, that distance increased to nearly 120 steps, and now it is approaching 600. The disappearing glacier threatens local flora and fauna, including the génépi plant, used to make a drink similar to absinthe, and the rock ptarmigan.

6. Blackfoot Glacier // United States

Montana’s Glacier National Park was home to 150 glaciers in the past, but by 1850, this number had fallen to 80. Established in 1910, the park became part of the world's first International Peace Park in 1932, when it was joined with Canada’s Waterton Lakes Provincial Park across the border. Today, Glacier National Park still has 26 glaciers, but these are expected to vanish by 2030. Between 1966 and 2015, every named glacier shrank—some by as much as 80 percent—according to the National Park Service. The largest remaining glacier, Blackfoot Glacier, covers about 0.7 square miles.

7. Muir Glacier // United States

Glacier Bay, the crown jewel of Alaska’s Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, was completely covered in ice in 1750. Since then, the glaciers that feed it have receded by more than 60 miles. In total, 99 percent of Alaska’s tidewater glaciers (which end in tidal inlets and bays) are shrinking. Many no longer reach the sea, with their ice no longer calving into the ocean. Muir Glacier, once one of the region’s main attractions, used to send icebergs into the sea every day but has retreated more than 30 miles since 1892. It once moved at a rate of 16 feet per day until 1979, but now it crawls along at less than six inches daily.

8. Sermeq Kujalleq (Jakobshavn) Glacier // Greenland

Greenland is home to the world’s “other” ice sheet, which, alongside Antarctica’s, holds more than 99 percent of the planet’s freshwater ice. If the Greenland ice sheet were to melt entirely, global sea levels could rise by 20 feet. The resulting influx of cold fresh water could disrupt the Gulf Stream and the Amazon rainforest. Between 1979 and 2006, its ice loss increased by 30 percent. Sermeq Kujalleq (Jakobshavn in Danish), Greenland’s largest glacier, is retreating nearly two miles inland each year. NASA’s Oceans Melting Greenland (yes, “OMG”) project is wrapping up a six-year study to understand how warmer ocean waters and ice-sheet melt influence glacier movement.

9. San Rafael Glacier // Chile

Patagonia’s icefield is rapidly melting, with both its northern and southern lobes retreating at one of the world’s fastest rates. The San Rafael Glacier, located in the northern part of the field, is the region’s only outlet that reaches the ocean, making it the closest glacier to the Equator that terminates in the sea. Originating on Monte San Valentin, Patagonia’s highest peak, it is one of the most active calving glaciers globally, moving at an impressive speed of 4.7 miles per year. It is not only the fastest glacier in Patagonia but also ranks among the quickest worldwide. Between 1870 and 2011, San Rafael’s size reduced by 11.5 percent.

10. Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers // New Zealand

New Zealand’s Southern Alps offer glaciers that are easy to visit, and their retreat is visible to the public. According to the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, a third of the permanent ice in the alpine range was lost between 1977 and 2014. Popular tourist destinations like Fox and Franz Josef glaciers have been significantly affected. From 2008 to 2018, Fox Glacier shrank by half a mile, while Franz Josef Glacier retreated even faster, losing nearly a mile during the same period—its highest rate of retreat ever. This rapid melting threatens the livelihood of New Zealand’s glacier guides, who are increasingly challenged by the need to transport tourists farther from the ice.

11. Puncak Jaya Glacier // Indonesia

Puncak Jaya in Papua is home to the last tropical glaciers in the Western Pacific Warm Pool, a region that acts as a climate regulator and ‘heat engine’ for the planet. Over the years, the glaciers here have been shrinking and thinning. A study published in the journal Global and Planetary Change in 2021 found that Puncak Jaya has lost around 93 percent of its ice between 1980 and 2018. Projections indicate that this shrinkage will continue, leading to the complete disappearance of its ice by this decade’s end. This would mark the loss of the only tropical glacier situated between the Himalayas and the Andes.

12. Quelccaya Glacier // Peru

The Andes mountain range holds 99 percent of the world’s tropical glaciers, stretching across seven countries, with 70 percent of them located in Peru. The Quelccaya glacier, Peru’s largest ice cap, is also the second-largest glaciated area in the tropics. Its surface has shrunk by 46 percent from 1976 to 2020, and it is projected to vanish by the end of the century, affecting the local ecosystem, economy, and communities. The former Chacaltaya Glacier in Bolivia is another Andean casualty, having left behind a ghost town and ski resort by 2009, six years ahead of the scientists’ predictions from the 1990s.