Be Cool and Keep Moving Forward

Glaciers are large, thick masses of ice that form when lots of snow falls in one location for many years.  Over time the snow on the bottom gets pressed down by the weight of the falling new snow and this compressed snow becomes ice, forming a glacier.  

Glaciers originate on land and then move down a slope because of its weight and gravity.  As it moves it may carve out landforms such as moraines or fjords. A glacier may flow into a body of water but glacier ice is much thicker than the thinner sea ice and lake ice that forms on the surface of bodies of water. Glacier ice is actually a rock made of only one mineral.  The mineral ice is the crystalline form of water.  

Glaciers are giant freshwater reservoirs.  They support Earth’s life systems and influence our day-to-day lives. Unfortunately glaciers are disappearing.  Human activities are at the root of this problem.  Carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases have raised the temperatures and caused global warming.  As a result, glaciers are rapidly melting, calving off into the sea and retreating on land. 

In winter a glacier picks up new layers of ice on its surface as the snow falls at the higher elevations.  In the summer, it moves down the valley toward the sea. It melts along the way and picks up new layers of ice and dirt as it grows from the bottom up. In the last decade the rate of glacier melt has almost doubled per year and this has contributed to a rise in sea level by almost a quarter of an inch since the year 2000.

Today glaciers cover about 10% of the Earth’s total land area.  Birds and large animals such as polar bears may visit a glacier but they don’t live there.  Since glaciers contain very few  nutrients,  only a few small, specialized animals are capable of truly living on these massive blocks of snow and ice. 

These are the sayings on the bookmark called, ‘Advice from a Glacier’. 

• Carve your own path

• Go slow

• Channel your strengths

• Smooth the way for others

• Keep moving forward

• Avoid meltdowns

• Be cool!

Here are my thoughts about this advice. 

• Carve your own path - Take action and make the journey your own

• Go slow - Slow and steady wins the race.

• Channel your strengths - Focus on your strengths

• Smooth the way for others - Share what you have learned with others

• Keep moving forward - Keep moving on

• Avoid meltdowns - Find a new way to solve a challenge

• Be cool! - Be calm in any situation

Have a great day everyone.  Be cool and keep moving forward.  

# living life abundantly   # published author   # travelling tuesdays