Venezuelan Humboldt Glacier Has Been Labeled As An Ice Field Owing To Its Shrinking Size
- Ananya Sharma
- May 16, 2024
- 2 min read
Hello, Everyone!
The International Cryosphere Climate Initiative (ICCI) was established in 2009 at the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference {COP-15}. It is an umbrella for a group of experienced policymakers and researchers who collaborate with governments and organizations to develop, design, and materialize the mapped plans to mitigate the further melting of our Earth's frozen regions-referred to as the cryosphere; has relabeled the Humboldt glacier as an ice-field as per a statement put forward on X.
According to ICCI, the only glacier left in South America's country-Venezuala has diminished in size so much so that it is referred to as an ice field.
As per the US Geological Survey, the usual recommendation for a glacier is about 10 hectares. However, recent research has laid out an alarming situation that the Humboldt Glacier has minimized its size of about less than two hectares. Henceforth, the Humboldt Glacier has been labeled as an ice field.
Video Source: Down To Earth
Unfortunately, Venezuela has been the one of its kind country that has faced the disappearance of glaciers. Earlier, Venezuela had been graced with almost six glaciers in the Sierra Nevada mountain range but, five glaciers out of the six have vanished by 2011, with only the Humboldt glacier left in Venezuela.
It was predicted for the Humboldt Glacier that it would exist for about two decades but the latest studies have outlined that it melted too early than its anticipated timeline.
According to the experts the rapid hike in temperatures and the EL Nino Climate Condition -which portray the unexpected heating of the Eastern Pacific Ocean's ground waters; are the two major culprits behind the shrinking of glaciers.
Earlier heated political conditions in Venezuela had restrained the scientists from tracking the glacial region for several years. However, the Venezuelan government has set a thermal blanket to ensure there is no more melting of glaciers but according to the experts, the move is not a reliable one.
The scientists have warned three countries -Indonesia, Mexico, and Slovenia to face absenteeism of glaciers owing to soaring temperatures occurring globally for several years.
An alarming situation has been hinted at in a report by the World Meteorological Organization {WMO}.
Conclusively, we can say that if we rely on expert opinions then it's of prime importance to save glaciers from melting since it's beyond repair to fix the melting of glaciers.
Thank You.
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Good initiative from Venezuelan government..
This post talks about how Venezuela's Humboldt Glacier is getting smaller, now called an ice field due to melting. It's urgent to protect glaciers because they can't be fixed once they're gone. Well-structured and informative.
Amazing blog post...very informative 😊 🙌