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.
Ice-climbers around the world are being forced to adapt to the effects of warmer temperatures on well-known routes. Last July an apartment building-sized chunk of the Marmolada glacier in Italy’s Dolomite mountain collapsed onto a popular hiking route, killing 11 people. The same summer a number of agencies canceled ascents of Mont Blanc for the first time, as melting ice loosened an alarming number of rockfalls.
The study — and eventual closure of Explorers — came after a huge chunk of ice fell off, or calved, the main glacier on Oct. 6. Together, the report says, thinning and the exploding number of glacial lagoons are rushing Explorers to one of two possible outcomes. That’s a pattern consistent with glaciers around the world, as greenhouse gas emissions drive warmer ocean temperatures. One study this year predicted two-thirds of the world’s glaciers will have melted out of existence by the end of the century, rising sea levels 4.5 inches and displacing over 10 million people around the world.
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