The Perito Moreno Glacier in southern Argentina has long symbolized balance in a warming world.
Most glaciers worldwide are retreating, but Perito Moreno has remained stable. Recent satellite data and observations, however, reveal a significant retreat in key areas of the ice front, raising concerns about its future.
Scientists say this change marks the end of one of “Earth’s last stable giants.”
In Patagonia, it shows how quickly resilient glaciers are responding to climate change. Since 2018, glaciologists have recorded a retreat of up to 800 meters in the Perito Moreno Glacier.
The sudden retreat of the glacier, which had remained stable for over a century, is concerning. Researchers at Argentina’s National Institute of Snow, Ice, and Environmental Research indicate this retreat reveals a structural imbalance in the ice, leading to increased unpredictability.
The glacier is rapidly collapsing, with thinning increasing from an average of 0.34 meters per year in 2019 to about 5.5 meters per year by 2024—a nearly sixteenfold rise, according to a 2025 study in *Communications Earth & Environment*.
This indicates a loss of structural integrity throughout the glacier, attributed to basal melting, warmer air temperatures, and increased water infiltration through cracks. Dramatic internal loss can cause glaciers to collapse.
Radar surveys reveal that areas where ice formerly clung to bedrock are now partially floating. This “decoupling” allows water to flow beneath the ice, reducing friction and accelerating retreat. Research in *Nature Geoscience* indicates that this basal separation strongly signals irreversible glacier decline.
As a significant portion of its mass begins to float, stability becomes nearly impossible. Perito Moreno’s meltwater network now persists year-round, hollowing out its foundation. Visitors who once admired its rhythmic collapses now witness more frequent and unexpected fractures, with large ice chunks breaking off.
Each crack along the glacier’s edge forms fragile ice prone to breaking. Since 2020, calving rates have doubled, signaling increased internal stress. The balance has shifted toward loss, with each collapse in Lago Argentino reflecting the ice mass’s declining structural integrity.
Air temperatures in the southern Andes have increased over the past three decades, reducing the glaciers’ mass. Meltwater drains more quickly through deepening fissures, while changing rainfall patterns decrease snow accumulation, resulting in a negative mass balance.
Scientists from Argentina’s meteorological service reported that 2024 was one of the warmest years on record for the region. Even small temperature increases can disrupt ice balance. In the Southern Patagonian Ice Field, which feeds the Perito Moreno Glacier, snowfall has been below average for five straight seasons.
This seems minor each year, but it accumulates over time, resulting in significant losses. When snowfall can’t keep up with melting, the glacier slowly “starves.” The glacier’s flow rate decreases due to reduced compacted snow, exposing thinner ice to warmer air.
Without consistent snowfall, it will continue to deteriorate, despite temporary cold spells. The bedrock beneath Perito Moreno once provided natural support with ridges that helped sustain the glacier’s front.
As the glacier retreats into deeper troughs, it detaches from the rock and accelerates. Satellite radar shows that these contours direct meltwater into deeper pockets, lubricating the ice. Once it reaches a certain depth, gravity accelerates its descent, turning a gradual retreat into an unpredictable process that is hard to reverse.
The retreat of the Perito Moreno Glacier marks a key moment as it becomes the last “stable” glacier in Patagonia to start melting. According to the World Glacier Monitoring Service, 90 percent of monitored glaciers are shrinking, with rising melting rates globally.
Perito Moreno is significant as the exception—the only glacier that didn’t melt. Its decline highlights the widespread impact of global warming, serving as a preview of a planetary transformation occurring in ice and water.
Matthew 24:37 But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Matthew 24:38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
Matthew 24:39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Luke 17:26 And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.
Luke 17:27 They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.
Luke 17:28 Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;
Luke 17:29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.
Luke 17:30 Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.
Luke 21:11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and diseases; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
Luke 21:25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;
Luke 21:28 And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.
Luke 21:11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and diseases; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
Luke 21:25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;
Luke 21:28 And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.
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