Landscape view of an un-named glacier off the Sargent Icefield, directly across from Wolverine Glacier, above the Nellie Juan River, in Alaska. Taken during a visit to a wolverine glacier field site as part of a study to examine how alpine areas are changing as temperatures rise in Alaska.
How does present glacier extent and sea level compare to the extent of glaciers and global sea level during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM)?
The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) occurred about 20,000 years ago, during the last phase of the Pleistocene epoch. At that time, global sea level was more than 400 feet lower than it is today, and glaciers covered approximately:
- 8% of Earth’s surface
- 25% of Earth’s land area
- 33% of Alaska
Beginning about 15,000 years ago, continental glaciers retreated and sea level began to rise. Sea level reached its current height about 8,000 years ago and has fluctuated ever since.
Today, glaciers cover approximately:
- 3% of Earth’s surface
- 11% of Earth’s land area
- 5% of Alaska.
Learn more: USGS Water Science School - Glaciers: Things to Know
Related
How would sea level change if all glaciers melted?
Are today's glaciers leftovers from the Pleistocene ice age?
How do we know glaciers are shrinking?
How much of the Earth's water is stored in glaciers?
Was all of Alaska covered by glaciers during the Pleistocene Ice Age?
How old is glacier ice?
How many glaciers currently exist in Alaska?
Does the USGS monitor global warming?
What is the difference between global warming and climate change?
How long can we expect the present Interglacial period to last?
Landscape view of an un-named glacier off the Sargent Icefield, directly across from Wolverine Glacier, above the Nellie Juan River, in Alaska. Taken during a visit to a wolverine glacier field site as part of a study to examine how alpine areas are changing as temperatures rise in Alaska.

- Glacier Numerology – The how big, how long, how thick, how much, how often, of glacier science.
- Glacier Photography – While a picture may be worth a thousand words, a collection of images may tell a complete forensic story.
- Glacier Numerology – The how big, how long, how thick, how much, how often, of glacier science.
- Glacier Photography – While a picture may be worth a thousand words, a collection of images may tell a complete forensic story.

- Did you know soils on California’s marine terraces can be over a million years old?
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- Did you know soils on California’s marine terraces can be over a million years old?
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- a journey through the landscape of Earth's greatest floods
by Richard Waitt, Geologist
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Climate change is an issue of increasing public concern because of its potential effects on land, water, and biological resources.
Climate change is an issue of increasing public concern because of its potential effects on land, water, and biological resources.
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Land subsidence and relative sea-level rise in the southern Chesapeake Bay region
Assessing hazards along our Nation's coasts
State of the Earth’s cryosphere at the beginning of the 21st century : glaciers, global snow cover, floating ice, and permafrost and periglacial environments
USGS science for the Nation's changing coasts; shoreline change assessment
Why Study Paleoclimate?
Effects of ocean acidification and sea-level rise on coral reefs
Fifty-year record of glacier change reveals shifting climate in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska, USA
The history of Antarctic Peninsula glaciation
An overview of coastal land loss with emphasis on the southeastern United States
Satellite image atlas of glaciers of the world — North America
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Related
How would sea level change if all glaciers melted?
Are today's glaciers leftovers from the Pleistocene ice age?
How do we know glaciers are shrinking?
How much of the Earth's water is stored in glaciers?
Was all of Alaska covered by glaciers during the Pleistocene Ice Age?
How old is glacier ice?
How many glaciers currently exist in Alaska?
Does the USGS monitor global warming?
What is the difference between global warming and climate change?
How long can we expect the present Interglacial period to last?
Landscape view of an un-named glacier off the Sargent Icefield, directly across from Wolverine Glacier, above the Nellie Juan River, in Alaska. Taken during a visit to a wolverine glacier field site as part of a study to examine how alpine areas are changing as temperatures rise in Alaska.
Landscape view of an un-named glacier off the Sargent Icefield, directly across from Wolverine Glacier, above the Nellie Juan River, in Alaska. Taken during a visit to a wolverine glacier field site as part of a study to examine how alpine areas are changing as temperatures rise in Alaska.

- Glacier Numerology – The how big, how long, how thick, how much, how often, of glacier science.
- Glacier Photography – While a picture may be worth a thousand words, a collection of images may tell a complete forensic story.
- Glacier Numerology – The how big, how long, how thick, how much, how often, of glacier science.
- Glacier Photography – While a picture may be worth a thousand words, a collection of images may tell a complete forensic story.

- Did you know soils on California’s marine terraces can be over a million years old?
- Have you wondered why California’s rugged shorelines are terraced?
- Soils on marine terraces aid our understanding of soil formation, water movement, and carbon transformations under changing climate.
- Did you know soils on California’s marine terraces can be over a million years old?
- Have you wondered why California’s rugged shorelines are terraced?
- Soils on marine terraces aid our understanding of soil formation, water movement, and carbon transformations under changing climate.

- a journey through the landscape of Earth's greatest floods
by Richard Waitt, Geologist
- a journey through the landscape of Earth's greatest floods
by Richard Waitt, Geologist
Climate change is an issue of increasing public concern because of its potential effects on land, water, and biological resources.
Climate change is an issue of increasing public concern because of its potential effects on land, water, and biological resources.