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Glacial retreat. Image 2 of 4. Franz Joseph Glacier, Westland National Park, New Zealand, photographed in 1956. The glacier (top right to centre) has visibly retreated compared to image E235/380, which was taken from exactly the same location in 1951. Glaciers are large, slow-moving expanses of ice, formed from compacted layers of snow. They are sensitive to climate change and in recent years most of the world's glaciers have suffered rapid retreat. See images E235/382 and E235/383 for images of the same glacier seen in 1960 and 1964. The National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) is a US body that supports research into snow, ice, glaciers, frozen ground and climate interactions that make up the Earth's cryosphere. The World Data Center for Glaciology (WDC) in Boulder, USA, is responsible for archiving all available glaciological information. (KEYSTONE/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/NSIDC, WDC)