Study documents dramatic loss of remaining Pyrenees glaciers

A view of the Petit Vignemale glacier (left) and the Oulettes (right) on the Vignemale massif's north face in the Pyrenean mountain range, as seen from the Gaube valley in southern France, on August last year Photos: Aritz Parra/AP

Europe's southern-most glaciers will likely be reduced to ice patches in the next two decades due to climate change, as the shrinking of ice mass on the Pyrenees mountain range continues at the steady but rapid speed seen at least since the 1980s, Spanish scientists said in a new study.

The Pyrenees, marking the natural border between Spain and France, saw three glaciers disappear or become reduced to stagnant strips of ice since 2011. In 17 of the two dozen remaining ice sheets, there’s been an average loss of 6.3m (20ft) of ice thickness.