Is there ice near the earths equator?

Answer 1

Generally, you can always find ice at higher altitudes, even in temperate climates.

There is always ice on every continent on earth. Notably, 98% of the Antarctic continent is covered with an ice sheet, as is Greenland, with about 80% of its surface covered with an ice sheet.

Answer 2

Although the insolation is much greater at the equator than in higher latitudes, owing to the adiabatic cooling of air in the troposphere as it rises, high altitudes at any latitude are much cooler than low elevations. As one ascends a mountain the temperature falls by about 1˚C every 150 metres. At the equator, temperatures average around 27˚C or 80˚F at sea level, so at 3,000 metres or 9,800 feet, a pattern of nightly freezes followed by a strong daily thaw all year round emerges due to the combination of thin chilled air and extremely high solar radiation. At 4,500 metres or 14,700 feet, the average temperature will reach freezing even at the equator, and because of the lack of seasonal variation in temperature snow can be maintained despite the low efficiency of convective rainfall in cool temperatures.

There are a number of places near the equator that reach these altitudes. Almost all tropical glaciers are found in the Andes, with over two-thirds in Peru alone, but equatorial ice is also found on Kilimanjaro, Mount Kenya and the Rwenzoris in Africa and Puncak Jaya in New Guinea.

It must be noted that the snow line at the equator is by no means the highest in the world. Slightly longer days and stable air at the Tropics means that more snow can be melted and less will fall. Even in the humid Himalayas the snow line is around 5,500 to 5,600 metres and in the Desert Andes it is as high as 6,500 metres. As far from the equator as the Uinta Mountains in Utah at 43˚N, the permanent snow line remains as high as at the equator due to low precipitation and long, hot summer days.

Answer 3

Not really. There is a small build up of ice in the centre of Antarctica, but this is more than balanced by a loss of ice at the edges.

Answer 4

yes