There are many things people look at to see if global warming is happening. One of them is looking at whether the long-term ice of our planet is increasing or decreasing. Naturally, if global warming is happening, we would expect the amount of ice to be decreasing.
However, looking at the Antarctic ice cap is confusing. It is shrinking inparts and increasing in others. Even the Arctic ice is not as clear as we might like because it increases and decreases. With glaciers, it is easier to measure the advance or retreat of each glacier.
North America
There are thousands of glaciers in North America, some small, and some large. Not all are being monitored, but the ones that are tend to be retreating rapidly, and a few have disappeared completely.
Europe
The Glaciers of the Alps are retreating, and in one case an attempt was made to save the glacier by covering it with plastic.
Northern Hemisphere
In fact the Northern Hemisphere glaciers are retreating generally, and many are under threat.
Equatorial Glaciers
The equator tends to be warm, so there are not many equatorial glaciers. In the nineteenth century many people even questioned whether snow at the Equator is even possible. But Mount Kilimanjaro was discovered in Africa and it did have a glacier, despite being on the equator.
Now, although there is still snow on the upper parts of this huge mountain, the glacier has largely gone.
The glaciers in New Guinea are not closely monitored, but comparison of
old aerial photographs with recent ones suggest that they are going
quickly.
Southern Hemisphere
The Southern hemisphere glaciers are not as clearly affected, but many of them are retreating. This picture is confused by the fact that some are advancing and others are making periodic advances and retreats.
Summary
Looking at the glaciers of the world generally, they seem to be melting.
