Browsing by Author "Carrivick, Jonathan L."

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Accelerating Glacier Area Loss Across the Andes Since the Little Ice Age
    (John Wiley & Sons, 2024) Carrivick, Jonathan L.; Davies, Morwenna; Wilson, Ryan; Davies, Bethan J.; Gribbin, Tom; King, Owen; Rabatel, Antoine; García B., Juan Luis; Ely, Jeremy C.
    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 km(2 )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 x 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.