Colombian Glacier Disappears Due to Climate Change

The glacier of the Cerros de la Plaza, located in the Sierra Nevada de Güicán or El Cocuy, in the Eastern Andes of Colombia, disappeared last month as a consequence of climate change, according to the Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies (Ideam). “In March 2026, the extinction of the Cerros de la Plaza glacier was confirmed... Its disappearance was not abrupt, but the result of a sustained process of climatic transformation that accelerated in recent decades,” the entity states in its X post, accompanied by images showing the gradual extinction of the glacier over the last few years. According to Ideam, in the mid-19th century, this glacier had an approximate surface area of 5.5 square kilometers and by 2016, the ice sheet had been reduced to only 0.15 square kilometers. “Its loss has implications that go beyond the landscape,” adds the organization. The Sierra Nevada de Güicán or El Cocuy, where the disappeared glacier was located, is situated in the Eastern Cordillera, between the departments of Boyacá, Casanare, and Arauca, and houses the largest glacial area in Colombia. For Ideam, what happened with the Cerros de la Plaza glacier is a warning for the planet: “Climate change is a reality that is already transforming our territories.” “Its extinction is definitive,” the organization states. ‘The sustained rise in temperature has disappeared a glacier in Colombia’. “Behind this loss, there are multiple factors that interact with each other: the sustained rise in temperature, the decrease in precipitation in the form of snow, and its location at a relatively low altitude (close to 5,000 meters) for the current climate conditions,” indicates Ideam. The organization adds that in the Tropical Andes region, “glaciers are especially sensitive to these variations,” and satellite monitoring has not only documented this extinction but has also helped to “better understand the speed and impacts of climate change in Colombia.” “The disappearance of a glacier is not an isolated event. Glaciers perform key functions in water regulation and in high mountain ecosystems. It is the visible manifestation of a climatic system that is changing. Today, its coverage is zero.”