Context:
Scientists reclassified the Humboldt glacier as an ice field.
Humbdolt Glacier:
- Located in – Andes Mountain in Venezuela
- Recently, it has shrunk to an area of less than 2 hectares, leading to its downgrade from a glacier to an ice field.
- Ice field – A mass of interconnected valley glaciers on a mountain mass with protruding rock ridges or summits.
- Causes of melting – Temperature increase, accelerated by El Nino
- El Nino – An abnormal warming of surface waters in the equatorial Pacific Ocean.
- With this, Venezuela has likely become the 1st country in modern history to lose all its glaciers.
- Venezuela used to be home to 6 glaciers, located in the Andes mountains and by 2011, 5 of them had vanished.
Andes:
- Mountain range located along the entire western coast of South America
- Formation – Due to the convergence of the oceanic Nazca plate and the continental South American plate.
- Spans 7 countries – Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.
- Significance – Home to 99% of tropical glaciers and is the longest mountain range in the world.
Related Terms:
- Humboldt Current – Also called the Peru Current, is a cold ocean current that flows north along the western coast of South America.
- Humboldt’s Enigma – A term to describe the puzzle of why some mountain regions, especially in the tropics, have exceptionally high biodiversity, contrary to the expected decrease in diversity.
Source: The Indian Express
Previous Year Question
With reference to river Teesta, consider the following statements:
1. The source of river Teesta is the same as that of Brahmaputra but it flows through Sikkim.
2. River Rangeet originates in Sikkim and it is a tributary of river Teesta.
3. River Teesta flows into the Bay of Bengal on the border of India and Bangladesh.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 and 3 only
(b) 2 only
(c) 2 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
[UPSC Civil Service Exam – 2017 Prelims]
Answer: (b)
Explanation:
Teesta River originates from the Pahunri glacier (not from the same source as the Brahmaputra). Hence, statement 1 is not correct.
Before going to the Bay of Bengal through Bangladesh Teesta flows through West Bengal and Sikkim. Hence, statement 3 is not correct.
