Venezuela may become the first country in modern history to lose all its glaciers after its last glacier, the Humboldt in the Andes, has been reclassified as an ice field due to its significantly reduced size. The International Cryosphere Climate Initiative (ICCI) noted that the Humboldt glacier, also known as La Corona, is now too small to be classified as a glacier.
Venezuela has already lost at least six other glaciers in the past century. The Humboldt glacier had originally covered 450 hectares but has shrunk to just two hectares. Luis Daniel Llambi, an ecologist at the University of Los Andes in Colombia, mentioned that the glacier had reduced to even less than that. Glaciologists typically define glaciers as ice masses that deform under their own weight, and often use a minimum size of 10 hectares (0.1 square kilometers) as a common benchmark.
As global temperatures continue to rise due to climate change, ice loss from glaciers is contributing to higher sea levels. Dr. Caroline Clason, a glaciologist at Durham University, explained that the Humboldt glacier had not had much ice cover since the 2000s, and without replenishment, it has now been reclassified as an ice field.
In 2020, a study indicated that the Humboldt glacier might have shrunk below the 10-hectare threshold between 2015 and 2016, with NASA still recognizing it as Venezuela’s last glacier in 2018. Due to its reduced size, the glacier no longer fills valleys, a key characteristic of glaciers, and is now classified as an ice field.
In response to the glacier’s decline, the Venezuelan government had proposed a project to cover the remaining ice with a thermal blanket to slow down or reverse the thawing process. However, this idea faced criticism from local climate scientists, who warned that such coverings could degrade and release plastic particles, contaminating the surrounding environment.
Experts suggest that once a glacier is gone, it’s unlikely to return, as it needs a significant amount of ice to reflect sunlight and stay cool during the summer months. The loss of glaciers also impacts communities that rely on them for fresh water, particularly during hot and dry periods. Glaciers play a critical role in supplying water to many regions, and without them, these areas would have to rely solely on rainfall.
Maximiliano Herrera, an extreme weather researcher, indicated that other countries likely to lose their glaciers soon are Indonesia, Mexico, and Slovenia, due to their proximity to the equator and lower-altitude mountains, making them more vulnerable to climate change.
Overall, glaciologists predict that between 20% and 80% of glaciers globally could disappear by 2100, depending on the level of carbon emissions. While a portion of this loss is inevitable, reducing CO2 emissions could still help preserve other glacial deposits, which would have significant benefits for energy, water, and food security.
