Rapid Retreat

Satellites have observed Columbia Glacier withdraw into the mountains of southeastern Alaska.

Snow and ice are seen as bright blue, while vegetation appears green and bedrock brown. Gray stripes on the glacier surface represent rocky debris.

By 2011, the terminus had moved back more than 12 miles, essentially splitting Columbia into two glaciers with distinct fronts.

Floating icebergs that calved from the edge of the glacier fill Columbia Bay.

Standing 100 feet above the bay, a tower of ice in the process of becoming an iceberg separates from Columbia Glacier's terminus.

This aerial view from 1969 shows Columbia Glacier's ice filling the inlet.

By 2004, water had replaced much of the ice.

The terminus was approaching the foot of the Chugach Mountains when this photo was taken in 2011.