As per the latest development, Venezuela has reached a grim milestone in the battle against climate change: the vanishing of its last glacier, making it the first nation to witness the complete melting of all its ice formations. Back in 1910, Venezuela served as home to six glaciers covering an impressive 1,000 square kilometers. Today, these have dwindled to mere remnants of ice that no longer meet the criteria for glacier classification.
By 2011, five of Venezuela’s glaciers had vanished, leaving only the Humboldt glacier, also known as La Corona, struggling for survival in the Sierra Nevada National Park. Yet, even this frozen landmark has diminished so drastically that it’s been redefined as an ice field.
“In Venezuela, glaciers no longer exist,” stated Professor Julio Cesar Centeno from the University of the Andes (ULA). He further lamented that what remains is merely 0.4 percent of its original size.
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During its peak, La Corona sprawled over 4.5 square kilometers (1.7 square miles), but now it extends to over less than 0.02 square kilometers (2 hectares), far below the minimum size requirement for glacier classification, which stands at 0.1 square kilometers (10 hectares).
Research conducted over the past five years has revealed a staggering 98 percent decline in glacial coverage in Venezuela from 1953 to 2019. The rate of ice loss escalated rapidly after 1998, reaching a peak of around 17 percent per year from 2016 onwards.
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La Corona, which covered approximately 0.6 square kilometers (0.2 square miles) in 1998, had shrunk so significantly by 2015 that it was already on the brink of losing its glacier status. ULA researchers also added that their last expedition in December 2023 observed the glacier losing around two hectares from its 2019 measurement.
Efforts by the Venezuelan Government to protect the Humboldt glacier by covering it with a geotextile blanket in December proved futile and drew criticism from conservationists concerned about ecosystem contamination from the degrading fabric.
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The loss of Venezuela’s glaciers stresses the urgent need for global action against climate change. As temperatures continue to rise, glaciers worldwide face a similar fate, with devastating implications for ecosystems and communities reliant on their freshwater reserves.
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