Glaciers atop Mexico volcano likely to vanish by 2015
By Isabel de Bertodano
15 February 2011 AMECAMECA, Mexico — Glaciers that crown a Mexican volcano could disappear by 2015 with scientists pointing to global warming as a chief cause of their demise. Until recently, the glacial field on Iztaccihuatl, a dormant volcano and one of two white-capped peaks that can be seen from Mexico City, was expected to be gone within a few decades. But studies show rising world temperatures are melting the glaciers faster than previously thought, said Hugo Delgado, a glaciologist at Mexico City’s UNAM university who thinks the massive blocks of ice will be gone within four years. “What we’ve seen at Iztaccihuatl is an intense period of glacial retreat in the last few years, which has changed the picture,” Delgado said. Iztaccihuatl has one of two glacial fields left in Mexico, which are among the world’s few tropical glaciers. … The number of glaciers on Iztaccihuatl has dwindled from five to three, said Agustin Tagle, an official at the national park where Iztaccihuatl is located. “The thickest was originally about 90 meters in depth,” he said. “Now it is 10 meters at most.” … Iztaccihuatl, which means “white woman”, was named by the Aztecs for the feminine form the mountain etched on the skyline and the snow and ice that covered it. But snow falls are now scarce on the 17,000 foot peak, with vegetation growing at ever higher altitudes. It was extremely cold on Iztaccihuatl this week at a camp at 13,100 feet, however, with a raw wind hurling dust and ash across the mountain. …
