Glacier turns into ice field
Venezuela is the first country in
modern times to completely lose all
of its glaciers, according to the
International Cryosphere Climate
Initiative (ICCI). Humboldt Glacier,
also known as La Corona, he said.
Latest studies have shown that the
Humboldt Glacier has shrunk in
area by less than 2 hectares.
Therefore, its classification was
reduced from glacier to ice field as
the US Geological Survey says the
generally accepted guideline for a
glacier is about 10 hectares.
The Sierra Nevada de Mérida
mountain range of the Venezuelan
Andes Mountains has been home to
6 glaciers. By 2011, five glaciers had
disappeared, leaving only
Humboldt. It was estimated that
the Humboldt Glacier would remain
intact for at least another decade,
but the latest assessment has
shown that the glacier has melted
faster than expected.
Venezuela's political turmoil has
prevented scientists from
monitoring the glacier site for the
past few years. Nevertheless,
experts believe that increasing
climate change and the recent El
Niño climate phenomenon, which
leads to warmer temperatures,
could accelerate the destruction of
tropical glaciers.
Although the Venezuelan
government has installed a
thermal blanket to prevent further
melting, experts say the effort is
futile.
Indonesia, Mexico and Slovenia are
in line to break free as the world
experiences record-breaking
temperatures over the past few
years, according to scientists.
Earlier, a report by the World
Meteorological Organization
(WMO) also highlighted that most
of the glaciers in the high-
mountainous region of Asia had
lost significant mass due to record-
breaking high temperatures and
dry conditions.
