Why France's last Ariège glacier is still surviving despite climate change

The Arcouzan glacier, the last remaining in the Ariège department, is still covered in snow according to new photographs taken this month, despite the prolonged French heatwaves. 

However, scientists monitoring France’s Pyrenean glaciers say it is too early to conclude that the glacier has escaped another year of climate-driven decline. 

Arcouzan, nestled beneath the north-east face of Mont Valier (2,838m), is the last remaining glacier in the Ariège department and one of just 17 glaciers left across the Pyrenees. 

"It is the mountain's topography that protects it," Pierre René, glaciologist at the Association Moraine, which monitors glaciers in the French Pyrenees, told The Connexion. 

"The layout of the mountain provides optimal conditions for conserving the glacier,” he said.

While other glaciers are exposed to direct sunlight, Arcouzan lies in a sheltered cirque on the mountain’s north-east side, where it benefits from shade and is regularly replenished by snow that falls from above due to avalanches in the winter. 

These favourable conditions, according to Mr René, help Arcouzan shrink more slowly than others. 

Too early to draw conclusions 

Recent images of the glacier posted to social media earlier this month show it in an apparently good state.

While these images have sparked hope, Mr René urged people to remain cautious. "We cannot say it is resisting climate change," he said. "It is shrinking less than other glaciers in the Pyrenees, but it is still shrinking." 

"The melt season lasts until October," Mr René added. "Today the glacier is still covered with snow, but by September it will probably be completely exposed. Only then can we assess whether the year has been favourable or not." 

For this reason, glaciologists wait until the end of the melt season, usually in September or October, before measuring the glacier and drawing conclusions about its annual evolution. 

Pyrenean glaciers continue to disappear 

Arcouzan’s resilience does not change the issue affecting mountain glaciers across France. 

Mr René said the number of glaciers in the Pyrenees has fallen dramatically over the past quarter-century. 

"When I began monitoring the glaciers in 2000, there were 44. Today only 17 remain." 

Over the same period, the total glacier surface area has shrunk by more than 60%, with one or two glaciers disappearing on average every year. 

"In all likelihood, within 10 to 15 years, Arcouzan will also have disappeared," Mr René said. "It is the smallest glacier in the Pyrenees, making it especially fragile." 

These findings echo similar concerns in the French Alps. There, retreating glaciers are raising concerns over summer skiing on the Grande Motte glacier in Tignes, where warmer temperatures and reduced snow cover have shortened the ski season.