Due to climate change, Venezuela is now first Andean country to lose all glaciers

Venezuela has become the first Andean nation to lose all its glaciers, with the Humboldt Glacier, also known as La Corona, shrinking beyond recognition, NBC News said in a new report.

Once a symbol of pride for Mérida’s residents, the glacier’s disappearance marks a significant impact of climate change. Venezuela’s glacial surface has dwindled from 2,317 square kilometers in 1952 to a mere 0.046 by 2019.

Scientists cite global warming and phenomena like El Niño as accelerating factors. Despite the sorrow, researchers see an opportunity to study the new ecological succession in the area, where life will gradually colonize the newly exposed terrain.

According to the report, the International Climate and Cryosphere Initiative (ICCI), a science advocacy organization, recently declared that the Humboldt Glacier is already “too small to be classified as a glacier”.