Accelerating glacier area loss across the Andes since the Little Ice Age

Carrivick, Jonathan L.; Davies, Morwenna; Wilson, Ryan; Davies, Bethan J.; Gribbin, Tom; King, Owen; Rabatel, Antoine; García, Juan‐Luis; Ely, Jeremy C.. 2024 Accelerating glacier area loss across the Andes since the Little Ice Age. Geophysical Research Letters, 51 (13), e2024GL109154. 10.1029/2024GL109154

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Abstract/Summary

Andean glaciers are losing mass rapidly but a centennial-scale context to those rates is lacking. Here we show the extent of >5,500 glaciers during the Little Ice Age chronozone (LIA; c. 1,400 to c. 1,850) and compute an overall area change of −25% from then to year 2000 at an average rate of −36.5 km2 yr−1 or −0.11% yr−1. Glaciers in the Tropical Andes (Peru, Bolivia) have depleted the most; median −56% of LIA area, and the fastest; median −0.16% yr−1. Up to 10 × acceleration in glacier area loss has occurred in Tropical mountain sub-regions comparing LIA to 2,000 rates to post-2000 rates. Regional climate controls inter-regional variability, whereas local factors affect intra-region glacier response time. Analyzing glacier area change by river basins and by protected areas leads us to suggest that conservation and environmental management strategies should be re-visited as proglacial areas expand.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	10.1029/2024GL109154
ISSN:	0094-8276
Date made live:	07 Oct 2024 14:33 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/538181

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