They confirm the loss of glaciers in the Pyrenees is fast

2024/12/02 Galarraga Aiestaran, Ana - Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Ingurumena
• Klima
• Ekologia

Eñaut Izagirre Estibaritz and his colleagues have recently published in the open journal Regional Environmental Change of the Nature Group the latest data on the state of glaciers in the Pyrenees. The result leaves no doubt: The glaciers of the Pyrenees are rapidly disappearing.

In particular, the impact of extreme mass losses in the years 2022 and 2023.Los current glaciers of the Pyrenees have been observed from the air in the protected circuses of the highest summits, but their situation is worrying: in recent years there has been a significant decline, which has significantly affected the highest points of the glaciers, as well as the expansion.

Researchers have confirmed that the years 2022 and 2023 marked a "particularly demanding" turning point in the research. After a decade of steady decay (2011-2020), glaciers are now significantly smaller and have changed shape very significantly compared to 2011. Some areas are temporarily more stable due to the expansion of the deck of rocks and snow, but the vast majority are in the final stages to turn them into mere patches of what they used to be. It has been proven that the evidence of the extinction process is very clear; the fusion processes are producing collapses, the water is generating deep cracks in the ice…

They add that the melting of the Pyrenean glaciers does not directly affect the rise in sea levels in the world, but it affects the stability of the rocks and creates risks. It also has serious repercussions on the ecosystem, as it will involve the disappearance of the extremophilic species that inhabit it and the introduction of new species. So ecosystems will change radically. Finally, they stressed that the loss of these glaciers also leads to a loss of cultural heritage.