- Published
The mountains of Papua are not far from the equator, but they've been topped with "eternal snow" for centuries.
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they → publish → centuries
The peaks in this Indonesian region on the world's second-largest island, just north of Australia, have offered scientists countless insights into the Earth's climate history.
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peaks → offer → history
They're also the epicentre of the spiritual universe for many Papuans - a Mecca or a Vatican, as one activist puts it.
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activist → put → it
But now, nearly all the snow is gone.
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snow → go → ?
A century ago, the 300km (190-mile) stretch of the Sudirman Range had snow and permanent ice on all four of its major peaks.
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stretch → have → peaks
These are expected to entirely disappear in a year or two.
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These → expect → year
Glacier cover around the peak has shrunk from nearly 1,900 hectares (4,700 acres) in the 19th Century to about 16 hectares (40 acres) today.
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cover → shrink → hectares
Almost entire glaciers have vanished within a human lifetime.
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glaciers → vanish → lifetime
"There is a profound unfairness in this," says Marie Šabacká, a Czech glacier ecologist who travelled to Puncak Jaya last March in a bid to be among the last scientists to study Papua's "eternal snow".
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who → be → snow
She says the tropical glaciers in Papua are unique because they are separated from other glacier systems by thousands of kilometres.
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they → say → kilometres
Papua is home to the "last remaining tropical ice" between the Andes and Himalayas.
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Papua → remain → Andes
Ice cores taken from the slopes of Puncak Jaya preserve a record of climate history.
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cores → take → history
Scientists can use them to obtain information about atmospheric conditions in the region and understand changes in the planet's warmest ocean waters that surround the island - the tropical Pacific and Western Pacific Warm pool.
But this archive is disappearing before scientists have had time to fully study it.
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scientists → use → it
The retreat of Papua's glaciers is driven by the same forces affecting ice around the world, Šabacká notes, a warming atmosphere caused by human activity, including the burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas.
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Šabacká → drive → coal
As temperatures rise, the freezing point moves higher up mountains, so more precipitation falls as rain instead of snow, even in places that once saw regular snowfall.
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that → rise → snowfall
El Niño events can accelerate this process, while local factors such as cloud cover, snowfall and mountain topography influence its pace.
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factors → accelerate → pace
The mountains in Papua are just 450km (280 miles) south of the equator, where "permanent ice can survive only at very high altitudes and within a narrow range of climatic conditions", Šabacká says.
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Šabacká → survive → conditions
A small increase in temperature, a higher freezing point or shift from snowfall to rainfall can determine whether a glacier survives at all, she adds.
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she → determine → rainfall
The glaciers' retreat is evidence the Earth has been warming over a long period - and their disappearance "removes both a biological habitat and part of a culturally significant landscape".
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disappearance → warm → landscape
A spiritual anchor
At least five groups of Indigenous people have had strong spiritual ties to Puncak Jaya for generations.
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groups → have → generations
The Moni people refer to it as Mbainggela, and believe their ancestors watch over the mountain.
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ancestors → refer → mountain
To the Amungme people, the range is known as Nemangkawi, or the "White Arrow".
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range → know → Nemangkawi
"Parents and grandparents prayed their children would have hearts like the White Arrow, never straying from the proper path," says Elfrida Natkime, a young Amungme woman.
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Natkime → pray → path
"It symbolises honesty, purity and moral integrity.
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It → symbolise → honesty
"
According to traditional Amungme beliefs, Nemangkawi symbolises how people should live.
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people → accord → beliefs
Amungme environmental activist Adolfina Kum stresses how important the peak is to her people - and how traditions and cultural foundations risk being shattered as the ice melts.
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ice → stress → people
"How would Muslims feel if Mecca were destroyed?
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Mecca → feel → ?
How would Catholics feel if Rome or the Vatican were destroyed?" she asks.
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she → feel → ?
"For the Amungme people, that is what it feels like when Nemangkawi is destroyed.
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Nemangkawi → feel → what
The discovery of vast copper and gold deposits transformed the region during the 20th Century, and the development of extractive industrial projects have reshaped parts of the landscape.
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development → transform → landscape
Entire mountain faces have been excavated and roads, industrial infrastructure and settlements have transformed surrounding valleys.
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roads → excavate → valleys
Papuans say the development has brought jobs, roads, education and economic opportunities, but also environmental degradation and decades of social conflict.
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development → say → conflict
Some have lost access to their ancestral lands as mining expanded.
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mining → lose → lands
The BBC has approached Freeport, which operates Papua's Grasberg mine, one of the world's largest gold and copper operations, for comment.
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which → approach → comment
"Every time I see the mountains, I feel amazed, but I also feel sadness," says Elfrida Natkime.
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Natkime → see → sadness
"Since the company came, I have seen the exploitation.
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I → come → exploitation
But the development has also provided a livelihood for many people."
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development → provide → people
As local communities watch their sacred landscapes change, scientists and explorers are racing to document what is left.
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what → watch → ?
Using drones and three-dimensional mapping techniques, Danish researcher Klaus Thymann and his team have created a detailed model of what remains.
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what → use → model
From the early 2000s to 2025, the glaciated area has receded by 95%, he says.
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he → recede → %
…and 5 more, not listed.
The Aporia
