Retreat of glaciers since 1850
Scientific studies confirm more than 90 percent of the world’s glaciers are retreating, and many of the smaller ones — like the alpine ice sheets of glacier%20national%20park%20(u.s.)">Glacier National Park in the U.S. — are rapidly disappearing. On the other side of world, at Khumbu Glacier near Mount Everest in the Himalayas, expanding ponds are merging and forming larger bodies of water. This could threaten settlements downstream if they overflow. Thawing glaciers account for about 20 percent of the sea-level rise recorded in the past century, adding to the meltwater coming from polar ice caps and ice sheets.
Sources: BBC Radio New Zealand Washington Post