Why this spectacular glacier is surging in Alaska
Alaska's mighty Muldrow Glacier is moving 50 to 100 times faster than normal.
It's a major surge. Large parts of the 39-mile-long "river of ice" are progressing some 30 to 60 feet per day, as opposed to just a few inches.
On a warming globe where many glaciers are receding, some glaciers still have fast bursts of movement foward, though such surging glaciers are rare. Only one percent of glaciers surge. The Muldrow surge, occurring on the north side of Alaska's towering Denali — North America's tallest mountain at 20,310 feet — is the glacier's first rapid activity in 64 years.
These surges are spectacular, dramatic natural events. Colossal masses of ice crack and groan as they flow like a river in slow motion. Read more...
More about Glaciers, Science, and Climate Environment