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> Between 1952 and 2019 alone, Venezuela’s glacier surface went from 2,317 square kilometers to just 0.046 square kilometers, according to a 2020 study. Checke

> Between 1952 and 2019 alone, Venezuela’s glacier surface went from 2,317 square kilometers to just 0.046 square kilometers, according to a 2020 study. Checked the study because those numbers seemed suspect. That's 2.3 square kilometers, not 2300.

HPsquared 2y ago
Could that be from confusion between the use of comma as decimal symbol and periods to denote thousands? (German practice)
- margalabargala 2y ago
  I'm familiar with the practice, but it must be quite the confusion to mix both in the same sentence.
Etheryte 2y ago
Many countries use comma as the decimal separator, in fact, using comma is more common than using a dot if you go by the number of countries. [0] [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decimal_separator https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decimal_separator
- moralestapia 2y ago
  Any countries that use both? Because they also wrote "0.046".
- MaulingMonkey 2y ago
  They usually do not mix decimal seperators in the same sentence however, and as leading zeros are generally avoided on integers, "0.046" is pretty clearly using a period as the decimal seperator.
harlanlewis 2y ago
This may be the study: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15230430.2020.1822728 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15230430.2020.1... Quote from the abstract: > In Venezuela, glacial area has decreased 98 percent between 1952 and 2019 (from 2.317 km2 to 0.046 km2). So it appears you are correct. I looked it up because I was skeptical of your skepticism - Washington state is at a very different latitude, but at 1/5 the area of Venezuela has ~450 sq km of glaciers. Mt Rainier alone has 90 sq km. https://glaciers.us/glaciers.research.pdx.edu/Glaciers-Washington.html#:~:text=Glacier%20Extent,-Blue%20Marble%20Imagery&text=Blue%20Marble%20Imagery-,Washington%20is%20the%20second%20most%20glaciated%20state%20in%20the%20US,perennial%20snow%20and%20ice%20features https://glaciers.us/glaciers.research.pdx.edu/Glaciers-Washi... There’s no arguing against extreme glacial retreat (I started this by fact-checking your downplay), but this article does feel pretty sensational about a place that didn’t really have glaciers to begin with.
- margalabargala 2y ago
  I did not mean to downplay severity. I live in an area with a few dozen glaciers, and I've spent the last decade watching them become smaller and smaller with each passing year. The article being off by three orders of magnitude annoyed me because the loss of that quantity of ice in one location in just 70 years would be catastrophic; if we assume 40 meter thickness, that's 58 cubic kilometers of water added into the local watershed. As it stands, the statistic is "just" depressing.
  - harlanlewis 2y ago
    Apologies for misreading your intent, I hear you and am in full agreement.

HPsquared 2y ago

Could that be from confusion between the use of comma as decimal symbol and periods to denote thousands? (German practice)

margalabargala 2y ago
I'm familiar with the practice, but it must be quite the confusion to mix both in the same sentence.

Etheryte 2y ago

Many countries use comma as the decimal separator, in fact, using comma is more common than using a dot if you go by the number of countries. [0] [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decimal_separator https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decimal_separator

moralestapia 2y ago
Any countries that use both? Because they also wrote "0.046".
MaulingMonkey 2y ago
They usually do not mix decimal seperators in the same sentence however, and as leading zeros are generally avoided on integers, "0.046" is pretty clearly using a period as the decimal seperator.

harlanlewis 2y ago

This may be the study: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15230430.2020.1822728 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15230430.2020.1... Quote from the abstract: > In Venezuela, glacial area has decreased 98 percent between 1952 and 2019 (from 2.317 km2 to 0.046 km2). So it appears you are correct. I looked it up because I was skeptical of your skepticism - Washington state is at a very different latitude, but at 1/5 the area of Venezuela has ~450 sq km of glaciers. Mt Rainier alone has 90 sq km. https://glaciers.us/glaciers.research.pdx.edu/Glaciers-Washington.html#:~:text=Glacier%20Extent,-Blue%20Marble%20Imagery&text=Blue%20Marble%20Imagery-,Washington%20is%20the%20second%20most%20glaciated%20state%20in%20the%20US,perennial%20snow%20and%20ice%20features https://glaciers.us/glaciers.research.pdx.edu/Glaciers-Washi... There’s no arguing against extreme glacial retreat (I started this by fact-checking your downplay), but this article does feel pretty sensational about a place that didn’t really have glaciers to begin with.

margalabargala 2y ago
I did not mean to downplay severity. I live in an area with a few dozen glaciers, and I've spent the last decade watching them become smaller and smaller with each passing year. The article being off by three orders of magnitude annoyed me because the loss of that quantity of ice in one location in just 70 years would be catastrophic; if we assume 40 meter thickness, that's 58 cubic kilometers of water added into the local watershed. As it stands, the statistic is "just" depressing.
- harlanlewis 2y ago
  Apologies for misreading your intent, I hear you and am in full agreement.