Venezuela's Last Glacier Disappeared In 2024; Colombia Likely Next, Though Ice Will Take A Few Decades To Vanish
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Although the Sierra Nevada del Cocuy is home to the largest glacial mass in the country, it is far from alone in its fate. Rising global temperatures and increasingly unpredictable weather patterns are devastating all six of Colombia’s remaining glaciated areas. In 2024, neighbouring Venezuela became the first country in modern history to lose all its glaciers, and some predict that Colombia could go the same way in as little as 30 years.
“Even if we were to very aggressively over the next 10 to 20 years reduce greenhouse gas emissions, it wouldn’t be enough,” says Mathias Vuille, a professor of atmospheric and environmental sciences at the University at Albany, who has been studying the climate crisis in the Andes for more than 30 years. “They aren’t accumulating any fresh snow and ice any more – they are doomed.”
Colombia’s lowest-lying glacier, Santa Isabel in Los Nevados national park, far west of the Sierra Nevada del Cocuy, will probably be the first to disappear. According to data from the Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies (Ideam), it will probably be gone within five years.
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Unlike their counterparts in higher-latitude regions, such as Europe and North America, Colombia’s tropical glaciers are relatively constant in temperature. This results in a shorter period of ice accumulation and a longer, year-round period of water release. People living in Colombia’s mountains rely heavily on the swiftly diminishing glaciers for their main water supply. Ibañéz and her relatives, who live at the foot of the Sierra Nevada del Cocuy, consider themselves part of this group. “Very soon, we will be the first to run out of water,” she says. “Most people here aren’t aware of this.”
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https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/feb/27/ice-water-colombia-looks-to-a-future-without-glaciers
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