Аннотация:Tropical glaciers are highly sensitive indicators and recorders of climate changes1. Unfortunately, due mainly to atmospheric warming, most tropical glaciers are currently in retreat, as observed in the Andes2-3, in Africa4-5 and in Papua, Indonesia6-7. Glacier retreat can also be accelerated by a strong El Niño, which in many regions including Papua typically increases air temperature and decreases precipitation8-10. Here we report on the recent acceleration of mass loss from the glaciers near Puncak Jaya, Papua by quantifying the loss of ice coverage and reduction of ice thickness over the last eight years. Recent photographs and measurements of a 30-meter accumulation stake on the summit of one of these glaciers show a ~3-fold acceleration in the loss of ice cover and ~5.4-fold increase in the thinning rate that were augmented by the strong 2015/16 El Niño. At the current rate of ice loss these glaciers will likely disappear within the next decade. The ~90-year ice core record recovered in mid-2010 also suggests that the glaciers’ retreat has been mainly controlled by atmospheric warming, as observed by a positive linear trend (0.012‰ per year) in the ice core-derived δ18O data and the topographical characteristics of the region. These Papua time series serve as the only tropical ice core-derived climate variability records on interannual to interdecadal timescales.