The Receding Athabasca Glacier In Canadian Rockies Editorial Photo

The Athabasca Glacier is one of the six glaciers of the Columbia Icefield, located in the Canadian Rockies, between Banff and Jasper. Due to climate change, the glacier currently recedes at a rate of about 5 meters (16 ft) per year and has receded more than 1.5 km (0.93 mi) in the past 125 years and lost over half of its volume. According to one estimation, the glacier can disappear within one generation. The glacier is approximately 6 km (3.7 mi) long, covers an area of 6 km2 (2.3 sq mi), and is up to 300 meters (980 ft) deep. Water from the melting glaciers of the Columbia Icefield becomes many rivers that flow through many parts and cities of the North American continent and into the Pacific, Atlantic, and Arctic Oceans.