Humboldt Glacier has disappeared due to climate change
The Sierra Nevada de Mérida Mountain range, 5,000 meters above sea level in Venezuela, once had six glaciers. But climate change caused five glaciers to melt before 2011. Scientists have also reported the loss of another glacier called Humboldt Glacier, near Pico Humboldt , the country’s second-highest mountain.
Scientists say the Humboldt is melting faster than thought. As a result, it can no longer be called a glacier. It is now an ice field covering only two hectares. This glacier called Humboldt is also called by scientists as ‘La Corona’. They thought that La Corona would last for a few more decades.
But due to the country’s political situation, scientists could not observe the glacier properly. Their new observations recently showed that the glacier has melted so fast that only two hectares of ice remain. As a result, it no longer enjoys the status of a glacier.
Climatologist Maximiliano Herreira said other countries lost their glaciers decades ago. But Venezuela is probably the only country in modern times to have all of their glaciers.
According to Herreira, Indonesia, Mexico and Slovenia will also lose their glaciers soon. Indonesia’s Papua Island and Mexico have recently experienced massive temperature rises. This has increased the rate of glacier melting.
Currently, the world is experiencing a special natural phenomenon called El Niño. El Niño is a natural phenomenon that occurs every two to seven years. Scientists say El Niño has caused a temporary increase in human-made global warming.
This could increase the rate of melting of tropical glaciers. Herreira reported that temperatures in the Andean region of Venezuela have fluctuated by 3 to 4 degrees in certain months, compared to the average temperature between 1991 and 2020.
Another environmentalist, Luis Daniel Lumby, said that Venezuela is a mirror of what is happening from north to south. Starting from Colombia and Ecuador, it will be seen to occur in Peru and Bolivia. It will melt the glaciers from the Andes Mountains.
