The ice mass on the northern slope of Aneto Peak lost only three meters in thickness in 2022
The most famous glaciers are in the Pyrenees
The study was published by the European Geosciences Union and covered by the Spanish newspaper El Pais. This is the most comprehensive research ever conducted on the evolution of this glacier, which is one of the most emblematic of the Pyrenees and is visited by thousands of visitors each year.
She disappears
Scientists have studied the glacier’s retreat from 1981 to the present in various ways. second El Pais, the results are “like an obituary.” Indeed, it has been confirmed that the glacier is accelerating its disappearance and recent heat waves have tripled its retreat. In 2022 alone, ice has lost an average thickness of three metres. This is the highest amount ever recorded.
Summer is very hot
“The glacier has been losing its thickness by one and a half meters annually,” explained Nacho López Moreno, a researcher at the Perín Environmental Institute, and added: “In ten years, Anito will not become a glacier. In summers like the summer of 2022, its carrying capacity will be less.” much.” In addition to the melting of the ice, the researchers found that some kind of ice appeared on the glacier black snot. It’s a cryoconite, a microcosm of bacteria and dust. For researchers, this is another indication that the glacier is in a terminal state. These black spots store heat and add to the melting of ice, which is already suffering after two years of record summer temperatures.
