this post was submitted on 08 May 2024
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Scientists reclassify Humboldt glacier, also known as La Corona, after it melted faster than expected

Venezuela has lost its last remaining glacier after it shrunk so much that scientists reclassified it as an ice field.

It is thought Venezuela is the first country to have lost all its glaciers in modern times.

The country had been home to six glaciers in the Sierra Nevada de Mérida mountain range, which lies at about 5,000m above sea level. Five of the glaciers had disappeared by 2011, leaving just the Humboldt glacier, also known as La Corona, close to the country’s second highest mountain, Pico Humboldt.

The Humboldt glacier was projected to last at least another decade, but scientists had been unable to monitor the site for a few years due to political turmoil in the country.

Now assessments have found the glacier melted much faster than expected, and had shrunk to an area of less than 2 hectares. As a result, its classification was downgraded from glacier to ice field.

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[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 65 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Well that's not terrifying or anything...

Remember when climate change deniers used to say it was just the solar cycle? And then we went through like two of them since they started saying that?

[–] maccentric@sh.itjust.works 11 points 6 months ago (1 children)
[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 5 points 6 months ago

I haven't heard that one in a while.

[–] john89@lemmy.ca 28 points 6 months ago (3 children)
[–] Mannimarco@lemmy.world 39 points 6 months ago (1 children)
[–] Shardikprime@lemmy.world 10 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

It has/had a pretty large representation of many different climates. Desert and glaciers, tundra, rainforests, Savannah, tropical, swamps, you name it. Sadly most venezuelans never got to visit them

[–] Gigan@lemmy.world 4 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I too was surprised, since Venezuela is almost on the equator.

[–] catloaf@lemm.ee 5 points 6 months ago

It also has some fairly tall mountains: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pico_Bolívar

[–] Gormadt@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

For those not too good at unit conversions:

1 hectare is 10,000 sqft

1 hectare is also 2.47 acres

So the ice field is less than 20,000 sqft, less than 4.9 acres.

[–] TokenBoomer@lemmy.world 4 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

Cross posted to !collapse@lemmy.ml

Hi there! Looks like you linked to a Lemmy community using a URL instead of its name, which doesn't work well for people on different instances. Try fixing it like this: !collapse@lemmy.ml

[–] autotldr@lemmings.world 4 points 6 months ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:


Venezuela has lost its last remaining glacier after it shrunk so much that scientists reclassified it as an ice field.

The country had been home to six glaciers in the Sierra Nevada de Mérida mountain range, which lies at about 5,000m above sea level.

The Humboldt glacier was projected to last at least another decade, but scientists had been unable to monitor the site for a few years due to political turmoil in the country.

“Other countries lost their glaciers several decades ago after the end of the little ice age but Venezuela is arguably the first one to lose them in modern times,” said Maximiliano Herrera, a climatologist and weather historian who maintains a chronicle of extreme temperature records online.

The world has recently been experiencing the El Niño climate phenomenon, which leads to hotter temperatures and which experts say can accelerate the demise of tropical glaciers.

In a last-ditch attempt to save the glacier, the Venezuelan government has installed a thermal blanket to prevent further melting, but experts say it is an exercise in futility.


The original article contains 644 words, the summary contains 177 words. Saved 73%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

[–] p5yk0t1km1r4ge@lemmy.world 4 points 6 months ago

Don't worry, I'm sure it's fiiiine.

[–] bradorsomething@ttrpg.network 2 points 6 months ago

There it is again, that funny feeling.

[–] Microw@lemm.ee 1 points 6 months ago

Crazy how Venezuela is only an ice field today, used to be quite a big country...

/s