Environment

NASA Photos Show Climate Change's Impact on Glaciers, Ice

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NASA Change: Arapaho Glacier, Colorado (1898)
The Aprapaho Glacier in Colorado in 1898. (NASA)

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NASA Change: Arapaho Glacier, Colorado (1898)
The Aprapaho Glacier in Colorado in 1898. (NASA)

NASA has been tracking Earth's changes from space for decades, but thanks to its"Images of Change" series, we now have access to some of the space agency's best visuals cataloging decades of transformation on the planet's surface.

And of all that change, maybe no other thing is as mercurial as Earth's ice. From ice sheets to glaciers, Earth's frozen water moves and changes rapidly, particularly due to climate change.

For instance, the images above show the rapid retreat of glaciers from Alaska to the Himalayas, visual confirmation of what scientists have known for years: climate change is here, and humans are only amplifying and worsening its impacts.

A recent study found that human-caused climate change was responsible for 69 percent of all global glacial melt, up from 25 percent during the early stages of industrialization.

Click through the slideshow above to see how climate change is transforming Earth's ice.