Glaciers in Oregon Glaciers are an important part of life in Oregon. Glaciers provide drinking water, irrigate crops and help generate hydroelectric power. They are also a tourist attraction in areas that have more mountains. Glaciers are such a rare natural resource that people all over the world are trying to obtain these “frozen streams”. People want energy from glaciers because they can provide drinking water, and people living in the city of La Paz, Bolivia, rely on melting glaciers. Glaciers water crops, and thousands of years ago people in Russia and Asia knew that dark colors encouraged melting. This is how they watered their crops during times of drought. Although this method proved to be very expensive, India created artificial glaciers to provide people with more water. Scientists have built a dam on glacial meltwater to help generate hydroelectric power. The glaciers provide drinking water to the community and are becoming depleted as they continue to melt. Glaciers have changed dramatically over time because, on average, “glaciers around the world have been losing mass since at least the 1970s.” Melting glaciers have contributed to sea level rise because glaciers have retreated more rapidly over the past decade. Three major glaciers in the United States have shown an overall decline in mass since the 1950s and 1960s and an accelerating rate of decline in recent years. An ice sheet covered Mount Hood during the Ice Age, from about 1.8 million years ago to about 10,000 years ago. These ice sheets covered the Oregon Cascades, a series of mountains in Oregon, with glaciers running down the east and west sides of the range. These glaciers melted into smaller glaciers as the climate got warmer… half the paper… collapsed, but the Nile continued to rise and Britain took control of the Nile in the 19th century. About 60 years ago, Africans gained control of the Nile. The rivers and fields influenced the people living in the Fertile Crescent over the years due to the fertile soil and water. Many people lived in the Fertile Crescent and thrived on the fertile soil, growing abundant crops. Once abandoned, the Fertile Crescent became cracked ground and vacant land. Works Cited “Service Interruption.” Do glaciers affect people? NSIDC and Web. 10 December 2013. "Glaciers in Oregon | Encyclopedia of Oregon - Oregon History and Culture." Glaciers in Oregon | Encyclopedia of Oregon - Oregon History and Culture. Portland State University, 2008-2013. Network. December 10, 2013."Fertile Crescent." Encyclopedia of Ancient History. NP, 2009-2013. Network. 09 December. 2013.