The decision by Chile's National Forestry Corporation to permanently ban hikers from a popular glacier in Patagonia has incensed adventurers and local guides alike. What officials see as a question of safety — citing rapid, destabilizing melting — has sparked a debate over the risks of ice-climbing in a rapidly changing climate.
5 feet per year, according to drone images collected by government hydrologists since 2020. The number of meltwater lagoons sitting on top of the glacier has also doubled in that time. As the glacier’s overall surface contact with water increases — either where the glacier ends in Chileno valley or with its now 488 surface lakes — it melts more quickly. Together, the report says, thinning and the exploding number of glacial lagoons are rushing Explorers to one of two possible outcomes.