As Humans Advance, Andean Glaciers Recede

The spectacular glacier Number 15 of Antisana, one of the Ecuadorean capitals’ sources of potable water, lost at least 36 percent of its original mass in the last 50 years.

The Antisana is a snow-capped peak of the eastern branch of the Andes range whose three humps can be seen from Quito on clear days. It is located at the same latitude as the capital, 50 kilometres to the east.

Because of its strategic importance, it is the most studied of these Andean peaks. The glacier’s length is measured each year and its mass each month, as part of tracking efforts by France’s Institute of Research for Development (IRD), Ecuador’s National Meteorology and Hydrology Institute (INAMHI) and Quito’s Metropolitan Sewage and Potable Water Agency (EMAAP-Q).

Cotopaxi, one of the world’s highest active volcanoes, whose snow-covered cone can also be seen from Quito, lost 40 percent of its glacial mass between 1976 and 2006, said Bernard Francou, IRD representative in Ecuador, in a Tierramérica interview.

The studies by IRD and its local counterparts have shown that the same thing is happening to Ecuador’s glaciers as to those of the Real (Royal) 888 branch of the Andes, in Bolivia, and the Blanca range, in Peru and Colombia. They have lost 30 percent of their mass, on average.

In the case of glacier fields below 5,400 metres above sea level, the deterioration is greater, as is the case of Chacaltaya and Charquini in Bolivia, Broggi, Yanamarey and Pastoruri in Peru, and Carihuairazo in Ecuador, which scientists predict will disappear altogether within 10 to 20 years.

Source: As Humans Advance, Andean Glaciers Recede - ipsnews.net

Date: 14 June, 2010