[harlanlewis]

This may be the study:

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-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]

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]

Apologies for misreading your intent, I hear you and am in full agreement.