The Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) has observed a significant decrease in the glacier thickness at Puncak Jaya, Papua. Their recent monitoring shows that the glacier’s thickness dropped by about four meters, or 66 percent, in December 2023 compared to December 2022.
“This significant reduction is likely due to the El Nino conditions of 2022-2023,” stated Donaldi Permana, Coordinator of the Research and Development Division of Climatology at BMKG, during a virtual seminar on sustainable climate in Denpasar, Bali, celebrating World Meteorological Day.
BMKG has tracked the glaciers on Puncak Jaya since 2009. These glaciers are among the last remaining tropical glaciers in the world, located at an elevation of over 4,800 meters (15,700 feet) above sea level. From 2016 to 2022, the glacier’s ice area shrank by an average of 0.07 square kilometers annually, with the total area measured at 0.23 square kilometers in April 2022.
In December 2022, the glacier’s thickness was estimated at six meters. However, by December 2023, this thickness had decreased to just two meters.
Climate change, driven by global warming, has been a significant factor in the gradual thinning of Indonesia’s only permanent snow cover. Historically, Puncak Jaya’s ice coverage was about 19 square kilometers in 1850, reduced to an estimated 0.34 square kilometers by May 2022.
Additionally, similar melting trends have affected other tropical glaciers, such as those on Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Quelccaya in Peru, and Naimona’nyi in the Himalayas in Tibet.
The year 2023 was the hottest in the last decade, with global average temperatures from 2014 to 2023 reaching 1.20 degrees Celsius above the historical average.
Permana highlighted the critical need to reduce carbon dioxide emissions through mitigation and adaptation strategies, including tree planting, plastic reduction, and recycling, transitioning to green energy, conserving electricity, saving fuel, and reducing the use of private vehicles.
