Peru's Tropical Glacier, Quelccaya Ice Cap, Melting From Climate Change

The Quelccaya Ice Cap in Peru has been melting at an alarming rate for years, and in turn, the tropical glacier is slowly getting smaller and smaller as each year passes. In fact, experts have estimated that glacial ice in the Peruvian Andes that took roughly 1,600 years to form has melted away in a mere 25 years. Similar to the other melting glaciers around the world, the culprit behind this glacier melt is none other than global warming. And while climate change and global warming have long been suspected to be the reasons behind the glacier melt, it was never confirmed.

That is, until a recently published study in the journal Geology has confirmed that rising temperatures are responsible. A previous 2006 study had found that the Quelccaya Ice Cap, which is located 18,000 feet above sea level and is the world’s largest tropical ice sheet, had lost 20 percent of its area since 1978; and that the rate of decrease observed on the tropical glacier was increasing by the year.

"This is an important result since there has been debate about the causes of recent tropical glacial recession – for example, whether it is due to temperature, precipitation, humidity, solar irradiance or other factors," said study co-author Meredith Kelly, a glacial geomorphologist at Dartmouth College, in a press release. The findings by Kelly and her team echo those found by Ohio State University paleoclimatologist Lonnie Thompson, who has been recording data of the Peruvian glaciers from the 1960s.

Unfortunately, it's not just the Quelccaya Ice Cap that is at threat--the Pastoruri Glacier in Peru has melted to be half its size in the lat 20 years, and currently, scientists estimate that the glacier will cease to exist in the next decade. "It's irreversible at this point," Selwyn Valverde with the Huascarán National Park, told Reuters. "It's just loss, loss, loss now. It doesn't accumulate anymore."