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Alaskan tide-water glaciers are the world's fastest moving glaciers, some retreating at a speed of 80 to 115 feet per day. Currently 34 miles in length, 3 miles wide and more than 3,000 feet thick in some places, Columbia Glacier has receded more than 9 miles since 1980. While global warming plays a role in glacier retreat, calving rate is a combination of complex physical processes. In part, by seawater pressure floating the submerged glacier terminus slightly and stretching it like taffy.
-Prince William Sound Alaska |