Into the Ice

Welcome to Iceland, an island nation in the North Atlantic Ocean. Less/Fewer than 500,000 people live here. That means less/fewer people live in the whole country than in the city of Atlanta, Georgia.

But while it may be small when it comes to population, Iceland is big on natural wonders. It has roughly 130 volcanoes and more than 10,000 dazzling waterfalls. The country is also home to magnificent glaciers, like the one in this photo called Vatnajökull [VAHT-nah-yeuh-koo-tl], which means “glacier of lakes.”

A glacier is made of snow that has been compacted into a giant mass of ice. It’s not the sort of ice you’d want in your lemonade though. Why? Glaciers are constantly moving, and along the way, they trap dirt, rocks, and pieces of plants and animals. (The less/fewer dead-animal bits in your drink, the better, right?)

Glaciers can be found in many parts of the world, though they vary in age and size. Vatnajökull is 110,000 years old and about the same size as Delaware and Rhode Island combined! Compare that with Crater Glacier in Washington State, which started forming less/fewer than 40 years ago and is only half a square mile. Awwww! A baby glacier!

Most of the world’s glaciers are shrinking. During Earth’s last ice age, which ended about 12,000 years ago, roughly 32 percent of the planet’s surface was covered with glacial ice. Now, because of climate change, glaciers cover less/fewer than 10 percent of Earth.

Take Glacier National Park in Montana. In the beginning of the 20th century, there were at least 150 glaciers in the park. Today less/fewer than 26 remain. Scientists predict they will all be gone by 2030.