Visualization: Glaciers and Climate Change

An interactive visualization to visualize the shrinking and growing of a glacier as a result of changes in snowfall and temperature.

Students will change parameters such as temperature and snowfall and observe the corresponding effects on a glacier. They will discuss how climate change-related factors may impact glaciers globally, and how the study of glaciers can help in drawing inferences about the Earth’s climate.

Use this tool to help your students find answers to:

1. What climatic and environmental factors affect the size and motion of glaciers?
2. How do glaciers provide evidence of climate change?

About the Tool

Tool Name	Glaciers (PhET)
Discipline	Geography, Earth Sciences
Topic(s) in Discipline	Glaciers, Cryosphere, Impact of Temperature and Precipitation on Glacial Mass, Glacial Budget, Glacial Advance, Glacial Retreat
Climate Topic	Climate and the Cryosphere
Type of Tool	Interactive Visualization
Grade Level	High School
Language	English
Translation	Afrikaans; Basque; Bosnian; Chinese (Simplified); Chinese (Traditional); Croatian; Danish; Dutch; Estonian; French; German; Greek; Hebrew; Hungarian; Italian; Japanese; Kazakh; Korean; Macedonian; Norwegian Bokmal; Persian; Polish; Portuguese (Brazil); Serbian; Slovak; Spanish; Spanish (Mexico); Spanish (Peru); Thai; Turkish; Turkmen; Vietnamese
Developed by	PhET Interactive Simulations, University of Colorado Boulder
Hosted at	PhET Interactive Simulations, University of Colorado Boulder
Link	https://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/legacy/glaciers
Access	Online, Offline
Computer Skills	Basic