Study documents dramatic loss of remaining Pyrenees glaciers

By ARITZ PARRA
Associated Press

MADRID (AP) — Spanish scientists say Europe’s southernmost glaciers will likely be reduced to ice patches in the next two decades due to climate change. The study also found that the shrinking of ice mass on the Pyrenees mountain range is continuing at the steady but rapid speed seen at least since the 1980s. The Pyrenees, marking the natural border between Spain and France, saw three glaciers disappear or become reduced to stagnant strips of ice since 2011. In 17 of the two dozen remaining ice sheets, there’s been an average loss of 6.3 meters (20 feet) of ice thickness. The findings were announced to the media on Friday. The Spanish scientists blamed climate change for the retreat.