A Great Sadness’: Venezuela Has Lost All Its Glaciers

RFM meets with Mayi Andrehina Rondon Roa, Geographer –
Ministry of Popular Power for Productive Agriculture and Lands Venezuela

‘A Great Sadness’: Venezuela Has Lost All Its Glaciers

Venezuela has crossed a devastating threshold: its last surviving glacier — the Humboldt Glacier (also known as La Corona) in the Sierra Nevada de Mérida — has shrunk so much that scientists no longer consider it a glacier. With that reclassification, Venezuela becomes likely the first Andean country in modern history to lose all of its glaciers.

A Landscape Transformed Forever

Perched at nearly 4,900 meters above sea level, Pico Humboldt once held the last ice mass in the Sierra Nevada range.
At the beginning of the 20th century, Venezuela had six glaciers across this range; by 2011, five had already disappeared.
Now, the remaining ice is too small to move, marking its transition from glacier to a stagnant ice field

Astrophysicist Alejandra Melfo (Universidad de los Andes) described the moment with deep emotion:

“It is a great sadness, and the only thing we can do is use their legacy to show children how beautiful our Sierra Nevada was.”

Why the Glaciers Are Disappearing Glaciers exist when winter snowfall outpaces summer melt — a balance that has broken down in Venezuela. Geological and glaciological research attributes the rapid loss to global warming, particularly at high altitudes. Satellite data suggest that from 1910 to 2019, the ice coverage in Sierra Nevada decreased by over 98%.

Why This Matters • The loss isn’t just physical — it’s cultural. These glaciated peaks have shaped the identity and folklore of local communities. • The glaciers were always small and now so reduced that their hydrological impact is limited, but their disappearance remains a stark symbol of climate crisis. • As glacier ecosystems vanish, new life is appearing — scientists have documented high-altitude mosses and lichens colonizing the exposed terrain.

A Warning for the World Venezuela’s loss is not unique. Tropical glaciers around the globe are shrinking rapidly, driven by rising temperatures. Once gone, glaciers are gone for good. Their disappearance underscores how urgent climate action is, especially in sensitive, high-altitude regions.

A Legacy to Protect Venezuela’s glaciers may be gone, but their memory and lessons remain deeply relevant as the world negotiates how to deal with the irreversible impacts of climate change. Their disappearance is more than a footnote — it’s a call to action

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