Photographs of the Monte Perdido Glacier during late summer in 1981 and 2011.

At a Glance

Only19 of the 52 glaciers that were in the Pyrenees in 1850 are gone, most since 1980.In Spain, only a handful of glaciers remain,with Monte Perdido and Maladeta being the largest of them.By 2009, 90 percent of the glacier ice in the Pyrenees had disappeared because of global warming.

The last remaining glaciers dotting the Pyrenees Mountains in Spain and France will disappear within 20 years, and there is nothing to be done about it, an expert says.

Only19 of the 52 glaciers that were in these mountains in 1850 are gone, most since 1980, Ignacio Lopez-Morenoof the Pyrenean Institute of Ecology (IPE), a division of theSpanish National Research Council (CSIC)told weather.com. In Spain, only a handful of glaciers remain,with Monte Perdido and Maladeta being the largest of them.

"The southernmost glaciers in Europe are in the Pyrenees and they will be the first ones tocompletely melt," Lopez-Moreno said.

Lopez-Moreno noted that "it's impossible to say when the last piece of ice will disappear, but we cansay quite certainly thatin 20 years the presence of glaciers will be completely residualin our mountains."

The rate at which the glaciers have melted has accelerated in recent decades. By 2009, in the Pyrenees had disappeared because of global warming, according to a study conducted by the Spanish Environment Ministry.Between 2002 and 2008, the Spanish Pyrenees lost about a quarter of their glacier ice, the study noted.

A photo of Monte Perdido glacier taken in 1898.

(Universitat de Barcelona)

Today, one of the largest remaining glaciers, Monte Perdido, whichlies near the summit of the Vignemale mountain, is a little more than half a mile long and 500 yards high. Melting has caused the glacier to spit in two.

Since 2011, the IPE has been monitoring Monte Perdido and notes that the glacier has been melting at a rate of about an inch per day.

Lopez-Moreno says there is nothing that can be done to save thePyrenees glaciers.

"They could be only saved if theclimate getscolder in the next few years and this is quite improbable considering the greenhouse emissions we have," Lopez-Moreno told weather.com. "Even if emissionsare deeplyreduced, the climatic system will take decades to respond and it willbe too late for our glaciers."

Lopez-Moreno did say that it may not be too late to saveglaciers in other regions of the world. He noted that studying the demise of the Pyrenees glaciers can provide invaluable information that may save others as the planet continues to warm.

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"Studying the glaciers in their very late stage is very interesting from ascientific point of view as they allow scientists to see first-hand the feedbacks they exhibit," said Lopez-Moreno.

He added that researchers still have time to try different tactics that might be useful in saving other glaciers.

"We can see ifmelting rates accelerate or decrease when theyare covered by debris or restricted to small sectors at the top of themountains, etc.," he said."It is sad to see them disappear, and it's sad to think future generationswill not enjoy them as we do."