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Water resources

American Cordillera snow futures

Nature Climate Change volume 12, pages 1088–1089 (2022)Cite this article

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Under climate change, the mountain snowpack worldwide is being reduced. Now, research warns of a likely transition to low-to-no snowpack in the American Cordillera, with consequences for freshwater availability.

Mountains work as natural barriers to the movement of air masses. A mass of moist air approaching a mountain rises and gradually cools, creating the thermal conditions for cloud formation. The clouds concentrate at the top of the mountain, and the moisture is precipitated as rain or snow, which accumulates as glaciers, surface water, soil moisture and groundwater. Through this mechanism, the mountains fulfil the function of water recharge to maintain the freshwater supply for 22% of the world’s population4. Climate change is altering the thermodynamic conditions of both air masses and mountain surfaces, disturbing the water recharge function. To illustrate the dramatic consequences of this fact, in tropical countries like Colombia, imminent mass extinction of glacial areas is taking place. Substantial loss of mountain glacier cover is expected by the end of this century5. At the end of September this year, the snowy peak glacier Campanilla Blanco in the Sierra Nevada del Cocuy was symbolically declared dead by Colombian glaciologist Jorge Luis Ceballos in an event conducted by locals (J. L. Ceballos, personal communication).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Physics Program, Faculty of Basic Sciences and Technologies, Universidad del Quindío, Armenia, Quindío, Colombia

    Isabel Cristina Hoyos Rincón

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  1. Isabel Cristina Hoyos Rincón
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Correspondence to Isabel Cristina Hoyos Rincón.

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Hoyos Rincón, I.C. American Cordillera snow futures. Nat. Clim. Chang. 12, 1088–1089 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-022-01529-9

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