Photographer: Jan Inge Larsen; Jan Inge's Web site
Summary Authors: Jan Inge Larsen; Jim Foster
The photo above shows summer melt in the ablation zone on Okstindan Glacier in Norway. Oksskolten (6,286 ft or 1916 m), northern Norway's highest peak, is in the background. This glacier is actively melting and like most all mountain glaciers in Europe has noticeably retreated in recent years. Just a decade ago, glacier ice covered the area currently occupied by the lake in the foreground of the photo at left. In the mid 1990s, approximately 40 percent of Norwegian glaciers had been observed to advance primarily as a result of several consecutive winters of abundant snowfall. By 2010, however, of 32 glaciers that had been monitored, 27 were retreating, 3 were advancing and 1 was stationary. Photo taken at about 3,900 ft (1,190 m) above sea level on August 17, 2013.
