Recent glacier retreat across the Andes is unprecedented in the history of human civilization, according to a new study published in Science on Thursday (August 1). The discovery shocked scientists, who initially planned to study the current state of glaciers and how they varied throughout human civilization. Gorin and the team of scientists carbon dated bedrock that was recently exposed by retreated glaciers by measuring beryllium-10 and carbon-14 nuclide levels and found that concentrations were nearly zero. The study collected data at four glaciers across the Andes, which comprises 99 percent of the world's tropical glaciers. These glaciers are more susceptible to changing weather since they're consistently at or near freezing point.
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