Toward an Ice‐Free Mountain Range: Demise of Pyrenean Glaciers During 2011–2020

Pyrenean glaciers are the largest in southern Europe. Their survival is threatened by climate change, highlighting the significance of their study. This research presents an assessment of changes in the glacierized area and thickness of Pyrenean glaciers from 2011 to 2020, using high‐resolution opti...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Geophysical research letters 2021-09, Vol.48 (18), p.n/a
Main Authors: Vidaller, I., Revuelto, J., Izagirre, E., Rojas‐Heredia, F., Alonso‐González, E., Gascoin, S., René, P., Berthier, E., Rico, I., Moreno, A., Serrano, E., Serreta, A., López‐Moreno, J. I.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Climate change
Climatic conditions
Continental interfaces, environment
Evolution
Glacier thickness
Glaciers
Imagery
Lidar
Lidar observations
Mountains
Pyrenees
Radiative forcing
Regional climates
remote sensing
Satellite imagery
Satellite observation
Sciences of the Universe
Shrinkage
Spaceborne remote sensing
Survival
Thickness
Topography
Unmanned aerial vehicles
unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)
very small glaciers
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Summary:Pyrenean glaciers are the largest in southern Europe. Their survival is threatened by climate change, highlighting the significance of their study. This research presents an assessment of changes in the glacierized area and thickness of Pyrenean glaciers from 2011 to 2020, using high‐resolution optical satellite, airborne lidar and UAV images. The total glacierized area has shrunk by 23.2% and thickness has decreased on average by 6.3 m. These two variables show no correlation for individual glaciers. Although climatic conditions do not vary much among glaciers, their evolution was heterogeneous during the study period. The smaller glaciers (10 ha) have a more homogeneous response. This can be attributed to the generally larger influence of local topography on the response of the smaller Pyrenean glaciers. There is no sign of slowdown in glacier shrinkage respect to previous decades. Plain Language Summary Pyrenean glaciers are the largest in southern Europe. Their survival is threatened by climate change, highlighting the significance and relevance of their study. This study presents an assessment of changes in the glacierized area and thickness of Pyrenean glaciers during 2011–2020 based on UAV, optical satellite imagery and lidar observations. In this period, their total area shrank by 23.2% and thickness decreased by 6.3 m on average. Although climatic conditions do not vary much among glaciers, their evolution was heterogeneous during the observed period. The smaller Pyrenean glaciers (area 
ISSN:0094-8276
1944-8007
DOI:10.1029/2021GL094339