Ritacuba Blanco: death of a Colombian glacier May 9, 2024

Of the 14 tropical glaciers that existed in Colombia at the beginning of the 20th century, only six remain (Luis ACOSTA)

By AFP - Agence France Presse

Ritacuba Blanco: death of a Colombian glacier

Just a few months ago, the peak of the Colombian mountain of Ritacuba Blanco was covered in an uninterrupted layer of white ice and snow, as it has been for as long as we can remember.

However, with the South American country hit by the warming effects of the El Niño weather phenomenon since the end of last year, large cracks have suddenly appeared in the glacier covering the peak, exposing the rock underneath.

Experts say the glacier is melting at breakneck speed, with climate change intensifying the effects of El Niño - which appears every two to seven years and lasts around nine to 12 months.

The UN's World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said that the record temperatures since June 2023 were partly caused by El Nino, “but heat-trapping greenhouse gases are unequivocally the main culprit”.

“The El Niño phenomenon is perhaps the worst thing that can happen to our snowy peaks or glaciers,” said Jorge Luis Ceballos, a glaciologist at the Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies (Ideam).

“There is no cloud cover and therefore no snowfall,” he said.

Of the 14 tropical glaciers that existed in Colombia at the beginning of the 20th century, only six remain - and they are retreating rapidly.

The Ritacuba Blanco, in the Sierra Nevada del Cocuy National Park, some 250 kilometers northeast of Bogotá, is the one most at risk.

“At the end of last year, the walls here were about six meters high... today, they're one meter high,” glacier guide Edwin Prada told AFP on a recent climb to the peak.

- Last chance for tourists -

According to the most recent recorded data, in 2022, around 12.8 square kilometers (4.9 square miles) of Ritacuba Blanco were covered in ice and snow - the lowest figure ever measured by Ideam.

More recently, “the snow has melted due to a lack of precipitation and the ice has been exposed to solar radiation, which has accelerated the thaw,” said Ceballos.

Humberto Estepa, a resident of Guican - a village near Ritacuba Blanco - said that he shivers every time he sets foot on the glacier.

Never has the melting been “as noticeable as it is now”, he told AFP.

“Every time you go up, it's worse.”

In Asia - the continent most affected last year by record global temperatures, according to a recent WMO report - the icy peaks of the Himalayas are also disappearing, threatening long-term water security.

According to the WMO, warming oceans and rapidly melting glaciers and ice sheets raised sea levels last year to their highest since satellite records began in 1993.

El Nino caused major fires in Colombia this year, with more than 17,000 hectares of forest going up in flames.

It has also dried up lakes, and the capital Bogotá was recently forced to take the unprecedented measure of rationing municipal water as reservoirs reached record low levels.

Luisa Cepeda, a 39-year-old doctor, took her daughter to see the dying Ritacuba Blanco glacier at sunset.

“I wanted to see it... before it disappeared,” she said.

“It's sad to see how fractured it is.”

By David SALAZAR

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