It’s hard to imagine glaciers in the tropics, but researchers have been looking at why these high-altitude glaciers – like those closer to the poles – are retreating.

A French/US research team, investigating a Bolivian glacier, has found its retreat over the past 10,000 years is linked to a 3°C rise in air temperature and to the warming of the tropical Pacific Ocean.

This work confirms the exceptional nature of the rapid melting observed since the industrial revolution.