The climate threat|Global challenges

Venezuela's last glacier has melted away - making the country unique

Venezuela has become a country completely without glaciers. The last of the previous six, the Humboldt Glacier in the western state of Mérida, has become so small that it can no longer be classified as a glacier, according to scientists at the International Climate and Cryosphere Initiative (ICCI), according to NBC.

Venezuela is thus believed to have become the first country in Latin and North America, in modern times, to lose all glaciers. The reason is that the temperatures were too high during the snow-free period.

According to geologist Maximiliano Bezada, it is clear that the melting of the ice has been accelerated by climate change caused by man.

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Hard blow to the residents' identity: "A great sadness"

Climate change has reached the peaks of the Andes. That's what Alejandra Melfo, a physicist who studies the mountain range's glaciers, says, according to NBC, because the Humboldt Glacier melted to the point that it is no longer classified as a glacier.

According to NBC, the glaciers – formerly six in number but now zero – have formed a large part of the residents' identity.

- It is a great sadness, says Melfo.

Venezuela is believed to be the first country in Latin and North America to lose all its glaciers.