For the first time in modern history, an entire nation has lost all of its glaciers. Scientists from the Cryosphere Climate Initiative confirmed that the Venezuela’s last surviving glacier has melted beyond the size required to be classified as a glacier. What remains is only a shrinking ice patch.
The country once had six major glaciers high in the Andes mountains. Over decades, five of them disappeared, leaving only the Humboldt Glacier. Once a vast ice body, it had shrunk to just two hectares by 2019. In 2024, experts declared it too small to qualify as a glacier.
The Humboldt Glacier was named after German explorer Alexander von Humboldt, who warned in the 19th century about humanity’s reckless impact on nature. It carried both natural and cultural significance. The glacier’s demise reflects his early predictions. Rising global temperatures, worsened by human-driven climate change and strong El Niño cycles, sped up its final collapse.
Glaciers are often described as “water towers” for millions, particularly in tropical and high-altitude regions. Their loss threatens drinking water, irrigation for crops, and even hydroelectric power. According to Futura-Sciences, tropical glaciers are melting ten times faster than the global average. In the Andes alone, a quarter of the ice cover has vanished since the late 1800s. Rising sea level is definitely a threat, but shrinking rivers that once depended on glacier melt.
The United Nations has declared 2025 the International Year of Glacier Preservation, underlining the urgency of protecting what remains. Yet scientists warn that if this continues, two-thirds of the world’s glaciers could vanish by 2100.
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Shivam Verma is a journalist with over three years of experience in digital newsrooms. He currently works at NewsX, having previously worked for Firstpost and DNA India. A postgraduate diploma holder in Integrated Journalism from the Asian College of Journalism, Chennai, Shivam focuses on international affairs, diplomacy, defence, and politics. Beyond the newsroom, he is passionate about football—both playing and watching—and enjoys travelling to explore new places and cuisines.
