Until a few decades ago, there were at least five glaciers on the summit of Iztaccihuatl that were largely responsible for keeping the Sleeping Woman white with snow for most of the year. One of those ice massifs was Ayoloco, which in 2001 was declared in danger of extinction and now, 20 years later, was declared extinct by a group of scientists from the UNAM.
When we talk about the many lungs of the city, we usually think of our forests and parks; but the glaciers of Iztaccihuatl and the one that once stood on Popocatepetl played an important role for the climate and ecosystems that exist in the city. Thanks to these ice bodies we had access to drinking water in a natural way, even in the hottest seasons.
Photo credit: Andrea B via Flickr.
Now that global warming is more than evident, news about the rapid decline of glaciers is appearing all over the world. In the case of Ayoloco, only 20 years were enough for it to turn into water that rolled down the different streams that descend from the volcano, but never again resumed the cycle of turning into ice and reintegrating into the same glacier from which it came out.
And what's next for us?
Logically, when the flow of drinking water decreases, so does the quality of life for humans. As Hugo Delgado Granados, researcher at UNAM's Institute of Geophysics, points out, the most immediate way to act in the face of the loss of such an important body of ice is to adapt to the new climatic and landscape conditions that are coming, since it will not take long for the first signs of environmental deterioration to begin to appear.
Photo credit: Andrea B via Flickr.
Honor and raise awareness for Ayoloco
As it happened in ancient civilizations, when such an important part of our landscape dies, it is necessary to honor it, because thanks to this event our life will change. That is why to ritualize this loss, a group of mountaineers from the UNAM climbed up to the "belly" of the Sleeping Woman, exactly where the glacier was and placed a steel plate that definitively declares the extinction of Ayoloco.
Photo: UNAM
During the ceremony there was also a reading of poems by Anel Pérez, director of Literature and Reading Promotion of the Cultural Promotion Coordination of the UNAM, who touched on various issues surrounding the disappearance of this millenary body of ice. At the same time, this ritual is a call to be concerned about the welfare of the natural spaces that we still have left. Not to alarm anyone, but if we continue to ignore this type of situation, the next ones to disappear could be us.
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