A few days ago I experienced the Athabasca Glacier. I hiked up to it, spotting the markers of where the glacier has receded from not even a half century ago.

The Athabasca Glacier is part of the Columbia Icefield, the largest icefield in the Canadian Rockies. In just over the last century, the glacier has lost half of its volume and has retreated almost a mile.

Approaching the glacier was nothing but a wave of emotion. I never would’ve pinned it as such prior to the experience; after all, in the minds of many, it is just a block of ice. But noticing the hundreds of yards the glacier had retreated since 1982 represented something greater in my mind.

Growing up, I’ve been inundated with varying opinions regarding global warming. The validity of the science, the lack thereof, and so on. I’ve heard about the glaciers melting, sea levels rising, and the greenhouse effect – the whole nine yards.

The thing is, global warming and its all-encompassing effect doesn’t often take its toll on things near us. For many, “glaciers” are just floating around in the North Pole, which equals out of sight, out of mind.

The lack of glaciers in our day to day life depletes the severity of the problems we are perpetuating. So a glacier melting is almost seen as insignificant.

The Athabasca Glacier was the first glacier I’ve seen. And it put a lot of things in perspective.

I’ve always been one to be conscious of my impact on the Earth. I have a great deal of appreciation for the world and humans’ toll on it and my goal has always been to minimize my toll on it.

That being said, I was yet to see what that toll was. The Athabasca Glacier demonstrated that for me.

Our impact on Earth is severe. And I shouldn’t have to argue that humans are making the problems we are facing worse.

Areas untouched are feeling the wrath of human consumption and greed. Our over-consumption is leading us to unprecedented levels of emissions, ultimately harming the Earth we inhabit.

I never thought I would experience the profound effect of global warming in this way. As we head into uncharted territory, we need to keep what’s out of sight, in mind.

The Athabasca Glacier represented much more than rising global temperatures. It represented the dangerous consumption we have all become accustomed to, and what we need to do to save ourselves.