The last remaining glacier of Venezuela is lost, after it shrunk so much that it has been reclassified as an ice field by the scientists. Venezuela was home to six glaciers in the Sierra Nevada de Mérida mountain range, which lies at about 5,000m above sea level. Five of the glaciers had disappeared by 2011, leaving just the Humboldt glacier, also known as La Corona, close to the country’s second highest mountain, Pico Humboldt.
Venezuela is believed to be the first country in recent history to lose all its glaciers. “The loss of La Corona marks the loss of much more than the ice itself, it also marks the loss of the many ecosystem services that glaciers provide, from unique microbial habitats to environments of significant cultural value”, said Caroline Clason, a glaciologist and assistant professor at Durham University.
Word Check
According to NASA, a glacier is a large area of thick ice that remains frozen from one year to the next. They form when lots of snow falls in one location for many years. Over time–decades or centuries–the snow on the bottom gets squished down by the weight of falling new snow. This compressed snow becomes ice, forming a glacier.