What is the significance of glaciers present in the polar region?

The word glacier has come from the glace (French word) that means ice. Glaciers are also known as “rivers of ice”. Most of the glaciers are made up of snows which are fallen in many years and packed together into solidifying masses of ice. It forms in the winter season in which large quantity of snow is added and the weight of the snow generates pressure and this pressure converts the lower parts of snow into ice. 

Keep On Growing

This process occurs in so many years, thus the glacier will continue to grow and they will get converted into a heavy mass glacier after a certain period. The gravity of the glacier causes the ice to move and flow downwards into rivers very slowly. The movement of the glacier is around 50 meters (160ft) in every year. 

Cover A Large Area

Glaciers are the largest reservoir of fresh water on Earth which is formed in oceans. At present glaciers covers at around 10 percent of the world’s total land area. Majority of the glaciers are present in Polar Regions such as Antarctica, Greenland, and the Canadian Arctic. At about 99 percent of ice is inside ice sheets in the Polar Regions. The glaciers are present in mountain ranges in each continent such as New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.

Importance of Glaciers

Glaciers are very important in Polar Regions for maintaining water level in the ocean and sea to provide water to all the living things around. There are several glaciers located in the Polar Regions where water is stored as ice in winters and provide water to the plants, animals, and human beings. 

Nasty Effect

Due to global warming, most of the glaciers were fast melting and threat to the world as a flood in those cities and countries which is surrounded by the sea. Thus take the steps to reduce the pollution in the world including India for lowering the risk of global warming.