New mapping shows the equatorial ice atop Puncak Jaya has shrunk by roughly 95% since 2002
Long known to Indigenous communities as the “eternity glaciers,” the glacial expanse has already lost the majority of its past extent. Historical data referenced in the article indicates that glacier coverage stood at about 18.8 square kilometers in 1850, falling to roughly 2.14 square kilometers by 2002. Thymann’s team found that the mountain’s East Northwall Firn Glacier alone has shrunk by around 95% since then, breaking apart into three separate ice patches.
A separate satellite-based study by researchers at Papua University found an even steeper decline, estimating a 97% loss in glacier area between 1980 and 2024, with four of the mountain’s six glaciers vanishing altogether over the period.
For residents of the surrounding Papua region, the retreat carries cultural as well as scientific weight. Local pilot Alion Belau, who has flown over the range for nearly a decade, described watching the ice shrink year after year and said the glaciers that once drew visitors from across Indonesia to the region are now, in his words, little more than a name.
The findings fit a broader global pattern of rapid glacier ice loss. Researchers hope new photogrammetric data on Puncak Jaya will help preserve a detailed record of the glaciers’ shape, boundaries, and volume before they are gone, ensuring the story can still be told to future generations even after the ice itself has disappeared.
READ MORE: https://www.un-cryosphere.org/en/activities/news-and-events/news/articles/indonesias-eternity-glaciers-are-vanishing
