While there are great hopes for two of Spain’s unique animals, the Iberian lynx and the Iberian brown bear which were on the verge of extinction 35 years ago, very sadly there appears to be no hope at all that the country’s glaciers can avoid this fate.
These wonderful expansions of shifting ice are protected by the government as ‘natural monuments’ and are revered as part of the nation’s heritage. However, no level of conservation will be able to save them from the rising temperatures affecting the planet.
The glaciers of the Pyrenees – the most southerly in Europe – are home to ecosystems which provide sustenance to birds such as the Alpine chough and the Alpine accentor. But they have been badly hit by climate change. Research from the Pyrenean ecological institute (IPE), which comes under the wing of the national science council (CSIC), reveals the scale of the shrinkage. There were 52 glaciers in the mountain chain in 1850, 39 in 1984, with just 21 remaining in 2020. Back in 1850 they covered an area of 20.6 km2, which had dropped to 8.1 km2 in 1984 and reached a paltry 2.3 km2 in 2020. The scientists note that this represents a loss of 88.8% of the glaciated area.
The largest remaining glacier is in the Maladeta massif below the summit of the highest mountain in the Pyrenees, Aneto (3,404 metres). Jesús Revuelto Benedí is one of a team of IPE scientists investigating the ice loss; they examined the evolution of Aneto’s glacier from 1981 to 2022 using historic aerial images and remote sensing techniques.
“Its shrinkage and wastage surface and thickness loss have been continuous in recent decades, and there are signs of accelerated melting in recent years,” they explain in a recent report.
During the period studied, the glacier surface has diminished 64.7%, from 1.36 km2 to 0.48 km2; and its front has shifted from an altitude of 2,828 metres to 3,026 metres. It has also split into two bodies and ‘a proglacial lake has appeared in front of it in recent years’.
The shrinkage and thickness loss of Aneto Glacier indicate the critical situation of this ice mass. Tragically, the scientists have concluded that it is ‘in its terminal stage’.
And the other remaining remnants of ice ages are going the same way. Studies identified an ice thickness loss of 6.3 metres for the period 2011 to 2020 as the mean for all the glaciers in the Pyrenees. Specifically, for Monte Perdido glacier, it was 6.1m for the period 2011–2017.
So how long do they have left? The IPE scientists note that the rapid surface and thickness losses and wastage are mainly due to a warming of more than 1.2°C between 1949 and 2010 ‘which could be even higher in high-elevation areas, affecting snow accumulation and its duration above ground’. And higher temperatures this decade are accelerating the process. This means that more glaciers will have disappeared by the end of this decade. And, according to national newspaper El País, with the current rate of shrinkage ‘it is possible that there will not be any left by 2050’.
Mountains lovers will mourn the loss of these unique features and lament the destruction that is being caused to the natural world by the actions of the human race.
What are glaciers?
Glaciers are large masses of frozen ice that head slowly downhill. As glaciers move, they wear away the surrounding land through erosion. Glaciers sometimes transport material, such as moraine, over long distances before eventually depositing it. Glacial mass is affected by long-term climatic changes and glaciers are considered among the most sensitive indicators of climate change.
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