 For this mountain there is photographic evidence of massive glacial retreat since the region was first extensively explored by airplane in 1936 in preparation for the peak 's first ascent ( see e.g. [ 1 ] ) . Between then and 2010 , the mountain lost 80 percent of its ice — two @-@ thirds of which since another scientific expedition in the 1970s . That research between 1973 and 1976 showed glacier retreat for the Meren Glacier of 200 m ( 660 ft ) while the Carstensz Glacier lost 50 m ( 160 ft ) . The Northwall Firn , the largest remnant of the icecap that once was atop Puncak Jaya , has itself split into two separate glaciers after 1942 . IKONOS satellite imagery of the New Guinean glaciers indicated that by 2002 only 2 @.@ 1 km2 ( 0 @.@ 81 sq mi ) glacial area remained , that in the two years from 2000 to 2002 , the East Northwall Firn had lost 4 @.@ 5 % , the West Northwall Firn 19 @.@ 4 % and the Carstensz 6 @.@ 8 % of their glacial mass , and that sometime between 1994 and 2000 , the Meren Glacier had disappeared altogether . An expedition to the remaining glaciers on Puncak Jaya in 2010 discovered that the ice on the glaciers there is about 32 metres ( 105 ft ) thick and thinning at a rate of 7 metres ( 23 ft ) annually . At that rate , the remaining glaciers are expected to last only to the year 2015 . 
