Visitors hike on the ice during a guided tour on the Matanuska Glacier in Alaska, a 27 mile long valley glacier feeding water into the Matanuska River, about 100 miles northeast of Anchorage. The glacier appears to be retreating each year as the access trail for tourists and guides must be constantly maintained through glacial silt and mud, over the rocky moraine and onto the ice featuring clean white and deep blue colors. While Alaska is home to about 25,000 glaciers, studies suggest that rising global temperatures linked to climate change are causing glaciers globally to melt. The Matanuska Glacier is the largest glacier accessible by car in the US via a private road and paying an access fee for a guided glacier tour of the natural attraction that is a large part of an economy of tourism in the region. STOCKSHOTS