The Nevada de Cocuy ice cap, Colombia’s largest, is shrinking by 25 metres in length and 25 centimetres in thickness every year due to climate change, revealed environmental experts Monday.
The ice cap, located in Colombia’s eastern Andean Cordillera mountain range in the department of Boyaca, is suffering the devastating impact of climate change caused by global warming and emissions from producers such as China and the U.S, reported news station RCN.
According to statistics from environmental agency IDEAM, the famous glacier which extends from the Cordillera’s highest peak, Ritacuba Blanco, has receded by over 100km over the last 160 years.
The Sierra Nevada de Cocuy is made up of 25 peaks which 15 years ago were linked by snow fields and ice caps. However, today there are extensive areas of exposed rock, explained Ana Elvia Ochoa, environment analyst for the Boyaca government.
Furthermore, thousands of people in the region depend on water flow into rivers which are fed by the Sierra Nevada de Cocuy peaks for the irrigation of crops, Ochoa emphasized.
The most recent IDEAM studies suggest that the ice cap and glacier may disappear by 2030.