Support the Arctic Sea Ice Forum and Blog

Author Topic: Andes Glaciers  (Read 14347 times)

Sigmetnow

  • Multi-year ice
  • Posts: 25763
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 1153
  • Likes Given: 430
Andes Glaciers
« on: May 06, 2018, 12:44:49 AM »
In 1941, Lake Palcacocha spewed a glacial lake outburst flood that destroyed the city of Huaraz, Peru.  Today, fueled by tourism, Huaraz has grown into the second largest city in the central Peruvian Andes—its population has quadrupled.  And the volume of the lake is now 34 times greater than it was in 1941 — a ticking time bomb of 4.5 billion gallons of water.

Beneath a Melting Glacier, a Peruvian Town Prepares For the Worst
https://earther.com/beneath-a-melting-glacier-a-peruvian-town-prepares-for-1825713749
People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.

Martin Gisser

  • Guest
Re: Andes Glaciers
« Reply #1 on: May 06, 2018, 03:37:20 AM »
Well, heck, somehow human overpopulation has to be killed off. Better flood than war, pestilence, or starvation. When will they ever learn? When will they ever learn...

magnamentis

  • Guest
Re: Andes Glaciers
« Reply #2 on: May 06, 2018, 08:49:35 PM »
Well, heck, somehow human overpopulation has to be killed off. Better flood than war, pestilence, or starvation. When will they ever learn? When will they ever learn...

good question, the answer is never before extinction. how comes i see it that way, because of history while extinction in the past was local, tribes, kingdoms etc. and now that we're globalised it will perhaps be global but at least more widely spread so to say ;)

however, thinking about things like that i know exactly why i'm a huge fan of science fiction or space exploration, it's the only chance we have, latest once the red giant will swallow us in about 4 billion years LOL

Susan Anderson

  • Grease ice
  • Posts: 527
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 40
  • Likes Given: 279
Re: Andes Glaciers
« Reply #3 on: June 15, 2018, 08:35:57 PM »
Well, heck, somehow human overpopulation has to be killed off. Better flood than war, pestilence, or starvation. When will they ever learn? When will they ever learn...

good question, the answer is never before extinction. how comes i see it that way, because of history while extinction in the past was local, tribes, kingdoms etc. and now that we're globalised it will perhaps be global but at least more widely spread so to say ;)

however, thinking about things like that i know exactly why i'm a huge fan of science fiction or space exploration, it's the only chance we have, latest once the red giant will swallow us in about 4 billion years LOL

Trouble is the environmental and financial cost of going to Mars (or anywhere else) is astronomical and impractical, while the cost of fixing things here is only unaffordable because a staggering fraction of earth's apex predators haven't learned how to think reflect, and act as a community for mutual benefit.

ReverendMilkbone

  • New ice
  • Posts: 60
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 11
  • Likes Given: 5
Re: Andes Glaciers
« Reply #4 on: July 08, 2018, 07:41:42 PM »

kassy

  • First-year ice
  • Posts: 8235
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 2042
  • Likes Given: 1986
Re: Andes Glaciers
« Reply #5 on: August 15, 2019, 10:55:47 AM »
South America’s Glaciers May Have a Bigger Problem Than Climate Change

Casassa is standing at the foot of a glacier, 4,200 meters (13,800 feet) above sea level. The sky over the Andes is a deep blue, but something is not right: It’s July—mid-winter in South America—and yet it’s mild for the time of year, above 0 degrees Centigrade. He takes off his orange ski jacket and walks on the bare rock.

“This should all be covered by snow this time of year,” he says, pointing to Olivares Alfa, one of the largest glaciers in central Chile, just a few meters away. “There used to be one single glacier system covering this whole valley; now it’s pulled back so much that it’s divided into four or five smaller glaciers.”

Chile has one of the world’s largest reserves of fresh water outside the north and south poles, but the abundant glaciers that are the source of that precious commodity are melting fast. That’s not just an ecological disaster in the making, it’s rapidly becoming an economic and political dilemma for the government of Latin America’s richest nation.

 
A toxic cocktail of rising temperatures, the driest nine-year period on record and human activity, including mining, is proving lethal for the ice of Chile’s central region. Built up over thousands of years, the ice mass is now retreating one meter per year on average.

...

An academic paper from 2010 found that a third of all rock glaciers in central Chile had been directly impacted by mining activities such as road building, drilling platforms and depositing waste on top of the ice. In addition, dust from trucks and explosions in pits as well as vibrations from heavy machinery accelerate the melting. Mining itself is water intensive since it’s needed in each step to produce copper, with usage forecast to rise.


https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/south-america-s-glaciers-may-have-a-bigger-problem-than-climate-change-1.1301277
Þetta minnismerki er til vitnis um að við vitum hvað er að gerast og hvað þarf að gera. Aðeins þú veist hvort við gerðum eitthvað.

philopek

  • Guest
Re: Andes Glaciers
« Reply #6 on: February 07, 2020, 06:53:04 PM »
A few nice pics of the "Perito Moreno" Glacier in Argentina from yesterday.

It's perhaps worth to mention that this is one of the very few if not the only Glacier that
didn't lose any of it's mass for the last 100 years.

I hope that I found the best possible thread:

philopek

  • Guest
Re: Andes Glaciers
« Reply #7 on: February 07, 2020, 06:54:23 PM »
4 more

philopek

  • Guest
Re: Andes Glaciers
« Reply #8 on: February 07, 2020, 06:55:49 PM »
3 more

blumenkraft

  • Guest
Re: Andes Glaciers
« Reply #9 on: February 07, 2020, 06:56:20 PM »
Impressive <3

philopek

  • Guest
Re: Andes Glaciers
« Reply #10 on: February 07, 2020, 06:56:55 PM »
Maps

be cause

  • Nilas ice
  • Posts: 2441
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 1012
  • Likes Given: 1034
Re: Andes Glaciers
« Reply #11 on: March 05, 2020, 06:42:19 PM »
brighter than a virus anyway :) .. b.c.
Conflict is the root of all evil , for being blind it does not see whom it attacks . Yet it always attacks the Son Of God , and the Son of God is you .

kassy

  • First-year ice
  • Posts: 8235
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 2042
  • Likes Given: 1986
Re: Andes Glaciers
« Reply #12 on: January 04, 2021, 01:45:06 PM »
Bolivia’s Tuni glacier is disappearing, and so is the water it supplies

LA PAZ (Reuters) -Bolivia’s Tuni glacier is disappearing faster than initially anticipated, according to scientists in the Andean nation, a predicament that will likely make worse water shortages already plaguing the capital La Paz, just 60 km away.

Scientists from the Universidad Mayor de San Andrés (UMSA), who monitor the Tuni and other regional glaciers, told Reuters the once sprawling glacier had been reduced to just one square kilometer.

Where once they had predicted it would last to 2025, now they say its disappearance is imminent.

https://www.metro.us/bolivias-tuni-glacier-is/
Þetta minnismerki er til vitnis um að við vitum hvað er að gerast og hvað þarf að gera. Aðeins þú veist hvort við gerðum eitthvað.

kassy

  • First-year ice
  • Posts: 8235
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 2042
  • Likes Given: 1986
Re: Andes Glaciers
« Reply #13 on: August 06, 2021, 11:37:17 AM »
‘Mega-drought’ leaves many Andes mountains without snow cover

The Andes mountain range is facing historically low snowfall this year during a decade-long drought that scientists link to global heating.

Scant rain and snowfall are leaving many of the majestic mountains between Ecuador and Argentina with patchy snow cover or no snow at all as dry, brown earth lies exposed.

As precipitation declines and glaciers retreat across the region, communities who depend on the mountains for water supply are likely to suffer shortages, said Ricardo Villalba, principal investigator for the Argentine Institute of Snow, Glacier and Environment Science Studies.

“Here we are seeing a process of long-term decrease in precipitation, a mega-drought,” he said. “If you look at the precipitation levels right now for the entire Cordillera [Andes range], they show that it has either not snowed at all or has snowed very little.”

The southern hemisphere is experiencing winter, when snowfall should peak.

...

The Andes’ glaciers, which between 2000-2010 remained the same size or even grew, were now receding, Villalba said, adding: “The glaciers are in a very dramatic process of retreat that is much more accelerated than we have seen before.

“This is unfortunately happening in all the glaciers of the Cordillera, and is strongly linked to the global warming process that is affecting the entire planet.”

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/06/mega-drought-leaves-many-andes-mountains-without-snow-cover

Sat pictures on the link.
Þetta minnismerki er til vitnis um að við vitum hvað er að gerast og hvað þarf að gera. Aðeins þú veist hvort við gerðum eitthvað.

Tor Bejnar

  • Young ice
  • Posts: 4606
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 879
  • Likes Given: 826
Re: Andes Glaciers
« Reply #14 on: October 08, 2021, 10:05:39 PM »
cross post
GeoLog's Imaggeo On Monday ... September 20, 202
Quote
Chacaltaya ski hut, Bolivian Andes, 5400 m above sea level. The world’s former highest ski resort where the Chacaltaya glacier once stood, situated in the Cordillera Real, close to La Paz.  Chacaltaya [the glacier] vanished in 2009, six years earlier than scientists had predicted. ...


From SnowBrains
Quote
Chacaltaya ski resort was created to allow good winter snow skiing from November to March every year.  The lift was only open on weekends due to the extreme cold of the area.  Summer glacier skiing on the 18,000-year-old Chacaltaya glacier was possible before the glacier completely melted away in 2009 ....  Big, snowy winters are the only thing that can get the Chacaltaya ski lift spinning nowadays.

2nd closest ski resort to Earth’s equator at 16° Latitude (closest is in Indonesia… [indoors, too])
Arctic ice is healthy for children and other living things because "we cannot negotiate with the melting point of ice"

kassy

  • First-year ice
  • Posts: 8235
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 2042
  • Likes Given: 1986
Re: Andes Glaciers
« Reply #15 on: November 23, 2021, 07:00:31 PM »
Tourists were left flabbergasted as they saw a sizable portion of a massive glacier breaking off and collapsing into the lake underneath.

Filmed by Betsaida Hernandez at Los Glaciares National Park in Argentina, this video shows the extremely popular Perito Moreno Glacier in action as people are shocked as the portion breaks off.

The filmer commented. "This was the exact moment a part of the huge glacier fell off. Simply spectacular! No other words to describe this unreal scene.”

https://www.independent.co.uk/tv/climate/perito-moreno-glacier-bursts-ice-ve39d2531

It is not that spectacular but how many times have we seen this glacier before?

Þetta minnismerki er til vitnis um að við vitum hvað er að gerast og hvað þarf að gera. Aðeins þú veist hvort við gerðum eitthvað.

Stephan

  • Young ice
  • Posts: 2649
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 758
  • Likes Given: 459
Re: Andes Glaciers
« Reply #16 on: November 23, 2021, 09:19:53 PM »
This "calving" is really unspectular compared to what is available on youtube about this glacier.
But thanks for sharing.
It is too late just to be concerned about Climate Change

Espen

  • Young ice
  • Posts: 3707
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 420
  • Likes Given: 4
Re: Andes Glaciers
« Reply #17 on: January 30, 2022, 09:02:58 PM »
Upsala Glacier / Argentina separation:

As reported earlier by Mauri Pelto: https://blogs.agu.org/fromaglaciersperspective/2021/05/07/upsala-glacier-separation-from-bertacchi-glacier-argentina/

Please click on image to enlarge and animate!



Have a ice day!

kassy

  • First-year ice
  • Posts: 8235
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 2042
  • Likes Given: 1986
Re: Andes Glaciers
« Reply #18 on: March 31, 2022, 09:34:08 AM »
Shrinking glaciers are shallower than we thought, putting freshwater supplies at risk

In La Paz, Bolivia, a city with a population of roughly two million, as much as 27 per cent of the water supply comes from glacial melt. It’s one of many communities around the world that rely on seasonal meltwater to feed its rivers and provide fresh water for drinking and crop irrigation. While it’s normal for some ice to melt, rising temperatures caused by climate change are precipitating significant glacial retreat. To make matters worse, a new study suggests that we’ve been overestimating how much water our glaciers hold.

...

Two notable differences in freshwater availability are in the Himalaya, where there is 37 per cent more ice than was thought, and in the tropical Andes of South America, where there is 27 per cent less ice than had previously been estimated – a potential cause for concern for the mountain communities nearby.

http://geographical.co.uk/places/wetlands/item/4307-glaciers-contain-less-ice
Þetta minnismerki er til vitnis um að við vitum hvað er að gerast og hvað þarf að gera. Aðeins þú veist hvort við gerðum eitthvað.

Phil.

  • Grease ice
  • Posts: 540
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 76
  • Likes Given: 11

kassy

  • First-year ice
  • Posts: 8235
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 2042
  • Likes Given: 1986
Re: Andes Glaciers
« Reply #20 on: September 15, 2022, 10:55:11 AM »
Glacier contributions to river discharge during the current Chilean megadrought

The current Chilean megadrought has led to acute water shortages in central Chile since 2010. Glaciers have provided vital fresh water to the region’s rivers, but the quantity, timing and sustainability of that provision remain unclear. Here we combine in-situ, remote sensing and climate reanalysis data to show that from 2010 to 2018 during the megadrought, unsustainable imbalance ablation of glaciers (ablation not balanced by new snowfall) strongly buffered the late-summer discharge of the Maipo River, a primary source of water to Santiago. If there had been no glaciers, water availability would have been reduced from December through May, with a 31 ± 19% decrease during March. Our results indicate that while the annual contributions of imbalance ablation to river discharge during the megadrought have been small compared to those from precipitation and sustainable balance ablation, they have nevertheless been a substantial input to a hydrological system that was already experiencing high water stress. The water-equivalent volume of imbalance ablation generated in the Maipo Basin between 2010 and 2018 was 740 × 106 m3 (19 ± 12 mm yr-1), approximately 3.4 times the capacity of the basin’s El Yeso Reservoir. This is equivalent to 14% of Santiago’s potable water use in that time, while total glacier ablation was equivalent to 59%. We show that glacier retreat will exacerbate river discharge deficits and further jeopardise water availability in central Chile if precipitation deficits endure, and conjecture that these effects will be amplified by climatic warming.

https://www.bas.ac.uk/data/our-data/publication/glacier-contributions-to-river-discharge-during-the-current-chilean-megadrought/
Þetta minnismerki er til vitnis um að við vitum hvað er að gerast og hvað þarf að gera. Aðeins þú veist hvort við gerðum eitthvað.

kassy

  • First-year ice
  • Posts: 8235
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 2042
  • Likes Given: 1986
Re: Andes Glaciers
« Reply #21 on: November 22, 2023, 02:40:36 PM »
Ice cores from Earth’s highest tropical peak provide insight into climate variability


Newswise — COLUMBUS, Ohio – In the first study to examine ice cores from the summit of the highest tropical mountain in the world, new evidence provides unique insight into the climate record of the Amazon Basin over the last six decades.

Nestled within the central Peruvian Andes lies Nevado Huascarán, a tropical mountain whose glaciers preserve the climate histories of the entire region. Researchers have long been interested in studying this area, because unlike ice cores recovered from the poles, core samples taken from tropical areas of the world can reveal a wealth of information about phenomena like El Niño and seasonal monsoons.

The study, by researchers from The Ohio State University and published in JGR Atmospheres, involves four ice core samples – two from mountain col, which is the lowest point between two ridges, and for the first time, two from the summit, nearly 7,000 meters above sea level.

The researchers compared the oxygen-stable isotope records preserved in glacial ice at these different elevations on the mountain. Scientists who study ice cores use isotopes as a proxy for temperature change over time, but in tropical regions interpreting the isotope records can be a more complex process.

Their findings showed that the isotope records share a statistically significant relationship with sea surface temperatures in the Pacific and with rainfall over tropical South America. The oxygen-stable isotopes from the summit were also found to be more sensitive to large-scale changes in tropical Pacific sea surface temperature than the ones found at the lower levels of the mountain.

...

Yet for decades, due to the risk of avalanches and hidden snow-lined crevasses, no research expedition had ever been able to reach the peak of Nevado Huascarán to collect these ancient records. That is, until July of 2019, when Thompson and his team successfully navigated their way to the summit of the mountain’s South Peak. The team recovered two ice cores to bedrock from the col drill site – which is 6,050 meters above sea level – and two cores to bedrock from the summit at 6,768 meters above sea level – recovering 471 meters of glacial ice cores in total.

...

https://www.newswise.com/articles/ice-cores-from-earth-s-highest-tropical-peak-provide-insight-into-climate-variability

Abstract
In 2019, four ice cores were recovered from the world's highest tropical mountain, Nevado Huascarán (Cordillera Blanca, Peru; 9.11°S, 77.61°W). Composite hydroclimate records of the two Col cores (6,050 masl) and the two Summit cores (6,768 masl) are compared to gridded gauge-analysis and reanalysis climate data for the most recent 60-year. Spatiotemporal correlation analyses suggest that the ice core oxygen stable isotope (δ18O) record largely reflects tropical Pacific climate variability, particularly in the NINO3.4 region. By extension, the δ18O record is strongly related to rainfall over the Amazon Basin, as teleconnections between the El Niño Southern Oscillation and hydrological behavior are the main drivers of the fractionation of water isotopes. However, on a local scale, modulation of the stable water isotopes appears to be more closely governed by upper atmospheric temperatures than by rainfall amount. Over the last 60 years, the statistical significance of the climate/δ18O relationship has been increasing contemporaneously with the atmospheric and oceanic warming rates and shifts in the Walker circulation. Isotopic records from the Summit appear to be more sensitive to large-scale temperature changes than the records from the Col. These results may have substantial implications for modeling studies of the behavior of water isotopes at high elevations in the tropical Andes.

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2023JD039006
Þetta minnismerki er til vitnis um að við vitum hvað er að gerast og hvað þarf að gera. Aðeins þú veist hvort við gerðum eitthvað.