Glaciers and ice sheets affect and are affected by the Earth's climate change. They are fresh frozen-fresh water reservoirs that change size when the temperature changes and the amount of snowfall they get. They are the also the most sensitive indicators of climate change on Earth, growing when the climate cools and shrinking when the climate gets warmer. But, in the last couple of decades all the glaciers have done is shrink drastically. One main cause of this is the constant increase in our climate.
For a video showing many different Glaciers and how they shrunk click---->
http://news.discovery.com/videos/earth-glacier-comparisions.html
Over the course of millions of years, the motion of tectonic plates reconfigures global land and ocean areas and generates topography. This can affect both global and local patterns of climate and atmosphere-ocean circulation.
The position of the continents determines the geometry of the oceans and therefore influences patterns of ocean circulation. The locations of the seas are important in controlling the transfer of heat and moisture across the globe, and therefore, in determining global climate. A recent example of tectonic control on ocean circulation is the formation of the Isthmus of Panama about 5 million years ago, which shut off direct mixing between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. This strongly affected the ocean dynamics of what is now the Gulf Stream and may have led to Northern Hemisphere ice cover.
