CANADA ~ Athabasca Glacier - Jasper National Park ~

... Impressing natural wonder... lying on a wide, elevated plateau, it is the largest Icefield in the Canadian Rockies... and one of the largest non-polar ice fields in the world... the glacier flows down the valley like a frozen, slow-moving river... although it receives about seven metres of snowfall annually, the Athabasca Glacier has been receding or melting for the last 125 years because of global warming... it is losing more than five metres of ice every year and is in danger of completely disappearing within a generation😟... it is a popular destination and  the most-visited glacier on the North American continent... tourists from around the world climb aboard huge snow coaches to get an up-close look... Thanks a lot Glenn!(✿ ♥‿♥)

Photo: Don Harmon
At 300 square kilometres, the Columbia Icefield is the largest glacier in North America outside Alaska – so big that it creates its own weather systems. Meltwaters from the Columbia Icefield flow in three directions to the Arctic, Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.

The Athabasca Glacier is the largest of six ice sheets that form part of the Columbia Icefield in Jasper National Park.The Glacier is approximately 6 km long, covers an area of 6 square kilometers and is measured to be between 90–300 meters thick.

It forms a high-elevation ice cap on a flat-lying plateau that has been severely truncated by erosion to form a huge massif. The glacial area extends between the summits of Mount Columbia 3,747 metres on the west and Mount Athabasca 3,491 metres on the east.

Stamp:

Chinese New Year - Year of the Rat
(Issued 17-01-2020)