Fighting for Our Ice

“A ‘glacial pace’ once meant slow and steady but there’s nothing slow about the changes I’ve seen.” This was our founder Lewis Pugh’s reaction to the rapid retreat of glaciers he’s witnessed over 30 years of swimming in icy waters. This year, world bodies are taking global action against the loss of vital ice.

Glaciers are the slow-moving giants of our planet, changing the landscape around them over time – a very, very long time. Some have been around for millions of years, carving out the earth – shaping mountains and valleys, and acting as both a sentinel and a record of Earth’s climate history. 

Formed from the accumulation of snow over many years, glaciers grow under their own weight, gradually compressing into dense ice that flows like a frozen river. They take on many shapes and sizes too, from mountain-based valley glaciers to the vast ice sheets that dominate Antarctica and Greenland, each playing a unique role in regulating Earth’s temperature and water systems. But today, many are disappearing at an alarming rate.

Cracks in the system

A new 3D study of crevasses on the Greenland Ice Sheet shows that deep cracks in the ice are expanding faster than ever as our planet warms, speeding up ice loss and raising sea levels. These crevasses, which are wedge-shaped fractures that form where ice flows more rapidly, are particularly concerning because they can increase instability at the glacier’s edges. Greenland alone is losing an average of 30 million tonnes of ice every hour, with melting rates now six times higher than they were just a few decades ago. 

The Ilulissat Glacier, the fastest-moving in the world, driven by warmer conditions and an increase in meltwater at its base, is still advancing at 30 metres per day, a stark reminder of the speed and scale of the climate crisis.

This isn’t just a problem for Greenland – across the world, glaciers are retreating. Thwaites Glacier in Antarctica – often called the ‘Doomsday Glacier’ due to its potential to raise sea levels significantly – is showing signs of collapse as warm ocean currents erode it from below. Across the continent, melting ice shelves are weakening the foundations of glaciers and pushing them closer to irreversible decline, which would not only raise sea levels but also alter ocean currents and disrupt ecosystems on a global scale.

Ice sustains life 

Glaciers are vital to our planet.  They regulate Earth’s temperature by reflecting sunlight back into space, and influence global ocean currents by generating cold, salty water that drives circulation patterns. Even microscopic life depends on glaciers for the nutrients they provide. Glaciers also store around 70% of the world’s freshwater, feeding rivers that supply drinking water, agriculture, and energy to billions of people. 

As glaciers shrink, water shortages will intensify, affecting food security and livelihoods. Their retreat will massively disrupt landscapes, leading to frequent floods, avalanches, and even droughts. The impacts are already being felt in communities facing unpredictable water supplies, rising tides, and even changing borders.

In response to critical ice loss, UNESCO and the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) declared 2025 the International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation, in a global effort to raise awareness, drive policy action, and secure funding to protect Earth’s ice. 

Glaciers are in crisis and once they’re gone, there’s no bringing them back. The International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation aims to push beyond awareness and find real solutions. These start with cutting emissions to slow the rate of warming and the rate of melting, protecting glaciers through conservation efforts, funding scientific research, and ensuring vulnerable communities have the resources they need. Several critical areas of focus include expanding global glacier monitoring systems to enhance data collection and analysis, developing early warning systems for glacier-related hazards, and preserving cultural heritage and traditional knowledge related to glacial environments.

What took millennia to shape is rapidly melting away. Scientists have given us the data, and nature has given us the warning signs. What we need now is action.

Glaciers won’t wait  

The Lewis Pugh Foundation has been warning of the rapid loss of glaciers for years. In 2010, Lewis swam across the glacial Lake Pumori on Mt Everest, highlighting the retreat of the Himalayan glaciers, which are a critical water source for over two billion people. Since then, we have continued to witness firsthand the accelerating decline of glaciers. From the Nigard Glacier in Norway in 2007 to the Antarctic Ice Sheet in 2020 and a visit to the Ilulissat Glacier in Greenland in 2021, Lewis’s swims highlight the urgency of protecting these disappearing landscapes.

During his #ClimateSwim, Lewis swam across waters that, only a few years earlier, had been dotted with dense bodies of thick ice. His message was simple: No Ice, No Life. Four years later, the ice is thinner and the threat is even greater.