The last two glaciers in Papua may be gone by 2027

Only two glaciers remain on Puncak Jaya, a mountain in Papua, Indonesia. A glacier is a large area of ice that stays on a mountain for many years. Indonesia’s weather agency, BMKG, says the glaciers could disappear by 2026 or 2027. Four of the six glaciers once found there have already disappeared.

A team from Project Pressure, an environmental group, made a map of the ice that remains. It used drones to make a detailed model. The team found that the area covered by ice fell by 95% from 2002 to 2025. “There’s almost no ice left,” said Danish explorer Klaus Thymann, who worked on the map. Ice samples from Puncak Jaya hold a record of past weather and climate, but scientists have not fully studied them.

The main reason for the melting is that people are making the air warmer by burning coal, oil and gas. Then more rain falls instead of snow, so less new snow covers the ice. El Niño, a natural weather pattern, can make the melting faster.

The mountain is also important to people in Papua. The Moni call it Mbainggela, and the Amungme call it Nemangkawi, or White Arrow. For the Amungme, the mountain’s name shows how people should live. The ice loss is therefore a loss for science and for local people whose beliefs are linked to the mountain.