Greenpeace today released a new photographic evidence that shows the retreat of glaciers in Argentina, as a result of global warming. The picture shows the back of Ameghino Glacier, located in the "Los Glaciares" National Park in Santa Cruz province.

"What we can see is a significant shrinkage of almost 4 km, which coincides with the developments that have, in recent decades, almost all of the ice along the entire mountain range", said Juan Carlos Villalonga, Campaign Director of Greenpeace Argentina.

The Ameghino Glacier photo was taken in March 2010 by Greenpeace Argentina in a joint expedition with the Argentine Institute of Snow Research and Glaciology (IANIGLA), and enables the visual comparison with the photo taken from the same place in 1931, by priest Alberto De Agostini, which documented the Patagonian glaciers.

"The Ameghino, was one of the glaciers began to study some time ago IANIGLA; of 8 sectors were chosen Ameghino Glacier in Patagonia was one of them. And quickly, year after year, and compared with historical documents that we had at that time, we clearly saw a very marked retraction process", said Dr. Ricardo Villalba, director of IANIGLA.

"The obvious effect of global warming is the retreat of the ice masses around the planet, and obviously, our country and glaciers of South America are not alien to it. One regularly runs the Cordillera de los Andes, and is clearly seen that the shrinking process continues and in many cases has accelerated", said Villalba.

Ameghino Glacier belongs to the Southern Patagonian Icefield, which covers the southern mountain range over 350 kilometers. This field is off 13 large glaciers and 190 smaller glaciers. In the photographic comparison may be a reversal of the nearly 4 miles long, where there is a gap now facing not yet appeared in photographs taken in 1949.

Studies performed regularly on the Ameghino IANIGLA show a continuous shrinking process. Can be estimated from the original picture, in 1931, 2010, the total decline has been a little less than 4 km.

"These photographs can easily visualize and graphically how it is impacting on the masses of permanent ice rising temperatures. With the loss of ice lost fresh water reserves will become increasingly critical, for example, in the region of Cuyo", Villalonga concluded.