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last mo.

Perito Moreno Glacier at Tipping Point After Sixteen-Fold Increase in Melt Rates

Recent satellite and radar surveys show a sixteen-fold increase in thinning rates since 2019 that has pulled the terminus more than 800 meters inland, risking detachment from a long-stable rock ridge.

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FILE - A tourist watches the Perito Moreno Glacier at Los Glaciares National Park, near El Calafate, Argentina, Nov. 1, 2021. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko, File)
FILE - Tourists walk on the Perito Moreno Glacier at Los Glaciares National Park, near El Calafate, Argentina, Nov. 2, 2021. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko, File)

Overview

  • Researchers combined helicopter-borne ground-penetrating radar with satellite imagery to map ice thickness and surface changes between 2000 and 2024.
  • Thinning at the glacier’s terminus has jumped from about 0.34 meters per year (2000–2019) to an average of 5.5–6.5 meters per year (2019–2024).
  • Since 2019 the terminus has retreated over 800 meters, undermining its grounding on a subglacial ridge that once maintained its stability.
  • If the ice lifts off the pinning ridge, deeper water will increase calving rates and could drive a multi-kilometer collapse in the coming years.
  • The potential collapse threatens a UNESCO World Heritage tourist attraction, endangers freshwater reserves in Lago Argentino and adds to global sea-level rise.