How many Glaciers are there in the World...?

My first post.

I hope no-one minds my jumping in the deep end... Very Happy

As funny as it may seem, I have not been able to come up with a reliable figure concerning the number of Glaciers in the world.

I thought that it might be in the tens of thousands, but was suprised to find (in the process of researching this question) that Alaska alone has tens of thousands of Glaciers.

Other than that, all I know is at least 48 countries are said to contain at glaciers as part of their territory.

So can someone help me answer this question.

How many Glaciers are there in the world...?

Thanks in Advance.

What is the criteria to be classified a glacier? What its made of? Its age? Its size? If it moves?

Glacier... Compacted snow formed into a river of ice that descends from higher ground.

Age...currently existing.

Size. Big and Small.

Moves. Yes.

Calves. Yes

So, do you have a figure in mind.....?

To learn more try National Snow and Ice Data Center:

All glaciers have at least some ice, though there might be persistent snow fields that are labeled as glaciers.

They've got at least 100,000 in their catalog.

http://nsidc.org/data/docs/noaa/g01130_glacier_inventory/