Syllabus:

GS3: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.

Context: Argentina’s most famous glacier the Perito Moreno glacier, is facing ice calving events. 

More on the News

• The Perito Moreno glacier, spanning 250 sq km, roughly the size of Patna, Bihar—is rapidly deteriorating. 
• Just a week before, a massive block of ice, equivalent to a 20-story building, broke off and plunged 70 meters into the water below.
• Chunks of ice frequently calve from the glacier into Lago Argentino (Argentine Lake), located in Los Glaciares National Park near El Calafate in Argentina's Patagonian province of Santa Cruz.

Perito Moreno glacier

• The Perito Moreno glacier, known as the ‘White Giant’, is situated near the city of El Calafate in Argentina’s Santa Cruz province and lies within Los Glaciares National Park — a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
• It is one of 48 glaciers fed by the Southern Patagonian Ice Field located in the Andes system shared with Chile. 
• It is considered the world's third-largest reserve of fresh water. 

Alarming Retreat Trends

• Since 1917, the glacier has seen periodic advances and retreats.
• Historically considered stable, with mass remaining largely balanced for 50 years.

Recent Rapid Retreat

• Since 2015, retreat has accelerated significantly:
  2024 Argentine govt-backed report: Glacier has been losing mass at 0.85 metres/year — the fastest rate in 47 years.
  Between 2020 and 2023, Perito Moreno lost over 700 metres of mass — about seven blocks.
• Cause: Global warming.
  Air temperature in the region increased by 0.06°C per decade.
  Reduced precipitation led to less snow and ice accumulation.

Worldwide Glacier Loss

• Glaciers globally are shrinking at unprecedented rates due to rising temperatures.
• A February 2024 Nature study reported:
  Glaciers have lost 273 billion tonnes of ice/year since 2000.
  Equivalent to the total water consumption of Earth’s population over 30 years.
  Resulted in a 2 cm rise in sea levels this century.
• UNESCO report (March 2024): Since 1975, non-Greenland/Antarctica glaciers have lost over 9,000 billion tonnes of ice.