Fears 'stable' Patagonia glacier in irreversible decline
10 months ago
- #glaciers
- #Argentina
- #climate change
- Perito Moreno glacier in Argentina, once stable, is now retreating rapidly.
- Over the past seven years, it has lost 1.92 sq km of ice cover and thins by up to 8 meters annually.
- Previously, it defied global glacial retreat trends, maintaining balance between snow accumulation and melting.
- Since 2018, the glacier's mass loss has accelerated, with thinning doubling in recent years.
- Summer temperatures have risen by 1.2°C over 30 years, accelerating ice melt.
- The glacier's ice is thinning so much that parts are beginning to float, destabilizing its structure.
- Calving events are becoming louder, more frequent, and larger, with icebergs the size of 20-story buildings collapsing.
- Scientists predict the glacier may lose contact with the Magallanes peninsula, leading to catastrophic retreat.
- Perito Moreno joins neighboring glaciers Upsala and Viedma in rapid retreat, reflecting a global trend of glacial loss.