Researchers from the National Research Institute of Mountain Glaciers and Ecosystems (Inagem) report that Peru has lost about 56.22% of its ice cover since 1962, with 175 ice sheets disappearing between 2016 and 2020. The findings were shared with the Associated Press through Inagem officials.
Experts point to rising average global temperatures as the primary driver behind the rapid retreat of mountain glaciers in Peru, accelerating the melt across high Andean regions.
Today, roughly 1,050 square kilometers of ice remain in Peru. In particular, mountain chains such as the Chila massif have shed up to 99% of their ice over the past six decades. The retreat threatens river systems downstream, including the Amazon, since the Chila glaciers serve as a critical source of freshwater for the world’s largest river basin.
Beatriz Fuentealva, president of Inagem, notes that ongoing glacier loss poses direct risks to the populations living at sea level and in high-altitude communities. Historical context highlights the fragility of glaciers: in 1970, a massive ice sheet in the northern Andes collapsed following a powerful 7.9 magnitude earthquake, triggering a landslide that destroyed the town of Yungay and claimed more than 20,000 lives.
Earlier studies have explored potential positive or negative effects of climate change on alpine glaciers, including those in the Alps, underscoring the broader pattern of glacier response to changing temperatures and precipitation.