Footage of a nature filmmaker’s hike in the Canadian Rocky Mountains has gone viral for highlighting the likely effects of climate change on glaciers.
Keith Egglefield’s video, shared to the TikTok account @ramblecanada, shows people climbing a mountain pass in Alberta, with text on the screen saying, “Hike to the glacier behind Lake Louise!” has been done.
However, the scene quickly changes, the camera pans to an empty rocky terrain, and another superimposed caption reads, “What is a glacier?”, indicating that there is no visible ice at all. has been pointed out.
“This was taken on the Plain of Six Glacier hike, which takes you to the backside of Lake Louise and up to the glacier that feeds the lake,” says Vancouver-based environmental videographer. Egglefield, who is also a content creator, told Newsweek. “But I was a little shocked at how small they looked, even for me, a first-timer.”
A screenshot of a viral TikTok video captured by @ramblecanada. This footage shows no visible ice around the Plain of Six Glaciers behind Lake Louise in the Canadian Rockies. A screenshot of a viral TikTok video captured by @ramblecanada. This footage shows no visible ice around the Plain of Six Glaciers behind Lake Louise in the Canadian Rockies. @ramblecanada on TikTok
The video, shot on September 2nd, has been viewed more than 460,000 times since it was posted on October 2nd.
Egglefield also shared it on Reddit, where it garnered many comments from people who had previously visited the area. “Many commenters noted that the glacier has retreated to a greater extent than when it existed in the past.” The video sparked a debate not just about shrinking glaciers, but about the broader effects of climate change.
rapidly decreasing glaciers
The Eggle Field footage was taken at a time when scientists are closely monitoring the rapid melting of glaciers around the world. The phenomenon is becoming increasingly common, said Matthew Capucci, an atmospheric scientist and senior meteorologist at weather app MyRadar.
“During the warmer months, the glaciers melt, and in the winter, the snowpack helps pack them back,” Capucci told Newsweek. “In a perfectly balanced world, mass gains and losses in a year would be about the same. But when the scales tip to the extreme warmer, more mass is regained during the cold season. It will melt.”
Capuci also noted that the area around Lake Louise has been particularly affected. “Between 1985 and 2005, Banff’s 29 glaciers disappeared, reducing the total area covered by ice from 241 square miles to 193 square miles,” he said.
“Glaciers in the Canadian Rockies lost 25 per cent of their mass in the 20th century, which is a significant loss,” Capucci said, highlighting statistics from a World Wildlife Fund report.
broader global trends
Mauri Pelt, a member of the NASA Earth Observatory’s Science Advisory Board and director of the North Cascades Glacier Climate Project, has been in the field every summer since 1981 to monitor glaciers’ responses to climate change. I have spent 40 years on.
Pelto said Lake Louise’s retreating glaciers are part of a global trend.
“This story is not just about the glaciers around Lake Louise, but about all the glaciers, from the Wind River Mountains in Wyoming to Mount Robson in British Columbia, from Mount Shasta in California to Glacier Bay in Alaska. “It’s been rapidly losing volume and area over the last 10 years,” Pält said.
He explained that by late summer many glaciers remain exposed and not covered by snow, their surfaces darkened with rock debris. This dark colored surface accelerates the dissolution process.
“Of the 31 glaciers I’ve stood and observed in 41 years of continuous work, 24 have been lost in the last 10 years,” Pelto said. This rate of decline has led scientists to classify some glaciers as “extinct” (glaciers that existed when the global survey began but have since completely disappeared).
Pärt also emphasized the importance of understanding the underlying effects of glacier collapse, not just the visible changes. “The surface collapse evident in the TikTok video and the subsurface cavities of caves like this, which form beneath rapidly melting, stagnant glaciers, make you think… It’s worth it.”
Urgent call to action
Mr Capuch said the rapid melting of glaciers had broader implications beyond the environmental impact.
“We have noticed that the rate of melting has increased over the past 20 to 30 years, and that pace is likely to continue accelerating,” he said. “Glacier melting is changing the habits of some species, but more importantly, glaciers reflect changes in climate that are having broader societal impacts.”
As glaciers continue to disappear, the ecosystems and water supplies that depend on them are facing unprecedented changes. The visual reminder in Egglefield’s video serves as both a snapshot of the current climate crisis and a stark warning of what lies ahead.
