Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Water resources

American Cordillera snow futures

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

Subjects

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).

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Get just this article for as long as you need it

$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Price, M. F. Mountains: Globally Important Ecosystems Technical Report No. 49 (FAO, 1998).

  2. Viviroli, D., Kummu, M., Meybeck, M., Kallio, M. & Wada, Y. Nat. Sustain. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-020-0559-9 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Rhoades, A. M. et al. Nat. Clim. Change https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-022-01518-y (2022).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Immerzeel, W. W. et al. Nature 577, 364–369 (2020).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Rabatel, A. et al. Geogr. Ann. A 100, 75–95 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Haarsma, R. et al. Geosci. Model Dev. 13, 3507–3527 (2020).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. O’Neill, B. C. et al. Geosci. Model Dev. 9, 3461–3482 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Zappa, G., Ceppi, P. & Shepherd, T. G. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 117, 4539–4545 (2020).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Payne, A. E. et al. Nat. Rev. Earth Environ. 1, 143–157 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Huss, M. et al. Earth’s Future 5, 418–435 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

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

    Isabel Cristina Hoyos Rincón

Authors
  1. Isabel Cristina Hoyos Rincón
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Isabel Cristina Hoyos Rincón.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author declares no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

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

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-022-01529-9

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing