Glaciers, A source of fresh water!
Unaware of the nature. We have no idea that, about 67 to 75 percent of the fresh water (Drinkable water) is in the glaciers. Glacier (Click on the word to hear the pronunciation) is the french word and often call river of ice, because the word la glace in french means ice. glaciers are the frozen thick mass of the snow which forms over the years. It forms when a snow remains at same location long enough to transform in to ice. What makes glaciers unique is their ability to flow. Due to sheer mass, glaciers flow like very slow rivers. Glaciers are of different sizes. Years of compression gradually make the ice denser over time, forcing out the tiny air pockets between crystals. When glacier ice becomes extremely dense, the ice absorbs a small amount of red light, leaving a bluish tint in the reflected light, which is what we see. When glacier ice is white, that usually means that there are many tiny air bubbles still in the ice.
Image: Glacier
Here are the eleven facts of glaciers that will amaze you!
North America's longest glacier is the Bering Glacier in Alaska, measuring 190 kilometer (118 miles) long.
The Kutiah Glacier in Pakistan holds the record for the fastest glacial surge. In 1953, it raced more than 12 kilometer in three months, averaging about 112 meters (367 feet) per day.
Antarctic ice is up to 4.7 kilometer thick in some areas.
Approximately 10 percent of the Earth is covered by glaciers; during the last Ice Age, they covered one-third of the Earth’s surface.
Glaciers are found in 47 countries.
A glacier can range in length from the equivalent of a football field to more than 100 miles.
A single glacier ice crystal can grow to be as large as a baseball.
Alaska is estimated to have more than 100,000 glaciers. Most remain unnamed.
Glacier ice is the largest reservoir of fresh water on the planet, storing an estimated 75 percent of the world’s supply.
If all land ice melted, sea level would rise approximately 70 meters (230 feet) worldwide.
The Antarctic continent has been at least partially covered by an ice sheet for the past 40 million years.
To read More about water facts Click link below, 👇👇👇👇