Harbour seal, South Sawyer Glacier, Alaska, 2022 (photography)

Harbour seal (Phoca vitulina), South Sawyer Glacier, Tracy Arm-Ford's Terror Wilderness area, Southeast Alaska, USA. Melting of glaciers. Alaska's glaciers are melting at a record rate due to global warming Glaciers in Alaska's Denali National Park have been found to be melting faster than at any time in the past four centuries due to rising summer temperatures. Human activity is the main culprit with the emission of carbon dioxide and other gases responsible for global warming. The mean sea level and global stability depend on the evolution of these large masses of recrystallized snow. This phenomenon affects the availability of fresh water for human consumption and irrigation and, in the long term, could raise the general level of the oceans. The melting could cause flooding both locally, in the towns near the glaciers, and globally in other coastal cities.