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Below the ridges and seracs of the Athabasca Glacier icefall can be found several pools of some of the most pristine water on Earth. Trapped temporarily in pockets of glacier ice before reaching a fissure and draining away into the great Athabasca River, the crystal-clear water shines with an incredible blue-green color. But it might as well be blood-red, since it's the life of the glacier, draining away...That such a volume of millennia-old ice could be gone within years is almost beyond...
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Below the ridges and seracs of the Athabasca Glacier icefall can be found several pools of some of the most pristine water on Earth. Trapped temporarily in pockets of glacier ice before reaching a fissure and draining away into the great Athabasca River, the crystal-clear water shines with an incredible blue-green color. But it might as well be blood-red, since it's the life of the glacier, draining away...That such a volume of millennia-old ice could be gone within years is almost beyond belief, especially when its chill, immense presence has been has been experienced up close. The Columbia Icefield is described as one of two hydrological apexes of North America (the other being in Glacier National Park in Montana). Meltwater from here flows into three separate oceans (Pacific, Atlantic and Arctic). But as the ancient glacier melts, it isn't being replaced. Its disappearance will have many consequences..
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