It's not correct to says that glaciers have "been retreating for 15,000 years or more." It's more accurate to say that there was a major global retreat of glaci

It's not correct to says that glaciers have "been retreating for 15,000 years or more." It's more accurate to say that there was a major global retreat of glaciers at the beginning of the current interglacial period about 10,000 years ago. But since then, while regions and individual glaciers have experience growth and reduction, the global balance has been relatively stable. In the absence of human activity, we would not be seeing the glacial retreat that we are seeing now. In fact we would expect relative stability until the onset of the next glacial period--then growth. And of course, we care about all this because the civilization we've built is deeply integrated with the current climate, and it will be extremely expensive and traumatic to alter or adapt, especially on timelines as short as 50 to 100 years. Cities that rely on glaciers for year-round water are thousands of years old in some cases. Most of India, for example.