Spanish glaciers melting fast Greenpeace has released a report on the state of Spain's glaciers. The glaciers on the Spanish side of the Pyrenees are melting fast.. Total surface area has dropped from 1779 hectares in 1894 to 290 in 2000, representing a fall of 85% in of surface area. 52% of this has occurred in the last 20 years, and 30% between 1991 and 2001. (Monday, October 04, 2004 )
The report, written by a group of scientists including Enrique Serrano from the Universidad de Valladolid and Eduardo Martínez de Pisón from the Autónoma de Madrid, both professors of geography, compiles the current state of knowledge on each glacier (hence the different dates above) and looks in detail at the state of the Monte Perdido glacier. Current trends predict that by 2005 surface area could be as low as 65 hectares and just 9 hectares by 2050, with the ice finally succumbing somewhere between 2050 and 2070*. The last true glaciers of the Sierra Nevada and the Picos de Europa disappeared at the close of the 19th century as the temperatures rose after the so-called Little Ice Age (often taken as 1540-1880 A.D.). The Pyrenean glaciers were also principally formed during this cold period and have been slowly melting ever since its end. In 1980 there were still 27 glaciers and 9 ice banks (heleros???) . By 2000 there were just 10 glaciers and 9 ice banks (?). Periglacial forms and processes are replacing glaciers in the high Pyrenees. Unsurprisingly, human-induced climate change is firmly blamed on the waning of Pyrenean ices. See also ' Little Ice Age in Spain' +' Iberia most affected by climate change'
Taking 1890 as the high benchmark helps the authors. Europe was coming out the colder centuries of the Little Ice Age. but I'm really not sure about their claim that the end of this period was caused by the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. Their position seems to be that all climatic change during the last 10,000 years is in part human induced. As is often the case, Greenpeace needlessly exaggerates their case. Blaming almost everything on humans does the researchers no favours, and only helps the case of anti-climatic change interests. The slow melting of as much as 50% over much of the 20th century could easily be natural as part of the climatic pulse. Perhaps the defining characteristic of the Quaternary period in which we live is its inherently changing climate, in comparison with more stable climatic periods of the past. Clearly though, the current and excelerated melting is certainly human induced.
Note. As can be seen from the table largest surviving glacier is on Aneto with 163 ha.
Decline of Pyrenean glaciers (1994-2001)
Year - |
1894 |
1982 |
1991 |
1994 |
1998 |
1999 |
2001 |
Balaitus |
55 |
18 |
15 |
13 |
5 |
2 |
0 |
Infierno |
88 |
62? |
66 |
55 |
43 |
41 |
41 |
Viñemal |
40 |
20 |
18 |
17 |
8 |
6 |
2 |
Taillón |
- |
10 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
<1 |
0 |
M.Perdido |
556 |
107 |
90 |
74 |
52 |
48 |
44 |
La Munia |
40 |
12 |
10 |
8 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
Posets |
216 |
55 |
48 |
48 |
35 |
34 |
34 |
Perdiguero |
92 |
10? |
17 |
9 |
<1 |
0 |
0 |
Aneto- Malª. |
692 |
314 |
302 |
249 |
169 |
163 |
162 |
Besiberri |
- |
- |
6 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
TOTAL |
1779 |
608 |
574 |
481 |
322 |
300 |
290 |
(Figures in hectares) Numbers of glaciers and ice banks
Year |
1980 |
1991 |
1994 |
1999 |
2000 |
Glaciers |
27 |
17 |
13 |
10 |
10 |
Ice banks |
9 |
19 |
19 |
16 |
9 |
TOTAL |
36 |
36 |
32 |
26 |
19 |
Pyrenees Glaciers Glaciers in the Pyrenees Glaciers in the Pyrenees Glaciers Pyrenees Glaciers Aragon Glaciers in Aragon Aragon Glaciers Glaciers in Catalonia Glaciers Catalonia
Aragonese Catalonia Glaciers
Lots of details and pictures in 25-page report here
See also
' Little Ice Age in Spain'
And ' Iberia most affected by climate change'
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