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Author Topic: Chacaltaya Glacier, Bolivia  (Read 7616 times)

OldLeatherneck

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Chacaltaya Glacier, Bolivia
« on: February 23, 2013, 04:22:15 PM »

Quote


As glacial retreat reaches critical levels in Bolivia, water stress plagues the cities of El Alto and La Paz.3,8,9 If our heat-trapping emissions continue to rise at current rates, many tropical glaciers in Latin America are likely to disappear within a few decades.12
◾Chacaltaya glacier, northeast of La Paz, lost more than 90 percent of its volume from the 1940s to the late 1990s-and disappeared completely in 2009.3,9,10,11
◾Average temperatures throughout the tropical Andes rose around 0.6° F (0.33° C) per decade in the last quarter of the twentieth century.13,14 Scientists have observed that temperature increases of as little as 0.2° F (0.1° C) per decade can cause glaciers to shrink dramatically.17
◾Melting of tropical Andean glaciers threatens the water supply of 30 million people, agriculture, hydropower, and the region's immense biodiversity.4,23
 
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Glaciers across South America have shrunk severely in recent decades, with many vanishing altogether.12 Scientists attribute the accelerating retreat of Andean glaciers to climate change—primarily warming temperatures, higher humidity, and shifting precipitation.13 Average temperatures throughout the tropical Andes have been rising since the mid-twentieth century, with the rate of increase jumping to around 0.6° F (0.33° C) per decade in the last quarter of the century.13,14




http://www.climatehotmap.org/global-warming-locations/chacaltaya-glacier-bolivia.html
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kejad

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Re: Chacaltaya Glacier, Bolivia
« Reply #1 on: February 27, 2013, 01:51:03 AM »
I was in La Paz for a few weeks in January 2008, and Chacaltaya was basically gone then - just a patch of ice at the top of the mountain. 

The Zongo nearby has been seeing decline, too, and it's a much larger glacier.  I climbed its mountain, and my guide had some interesting observations from his 15 years' experience climbing along the glacier.  He could point to the spot where the glacier ended when he first started climbing it, about 300 meters from where it was then, and he said there was very little grass along the lateral moraine, which is now covered in stumpy grass. 

http://glacierchange.wordpress.com/2009/12/13/zongo-glacier-retreat/

It's one thing to read about these changes online; it's another thing entirely to see it in the real world.  I can't imagine the impact that our long-time Arctic researchers are feeling.

frankendoodle

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Re: Chacaltaya Glacier, Bolivia
« Reply #2 on: April 06, 2013, 12:28:38 AM »
http://theweek.com/article/index/242394/why-1600-years-of-ice-melting-in-25-years-is-a-bad-omen

Check out this article at The Week based on a paper published Science magazine. It's about glacier melt in the Peruvian Andes.

ggelsrinc

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Re: Chacaltaya Glacier, Bolivia
« Reply #3 on: April 07, 2013, 07:55:40 AM »
http://theweek.com/article/index/242394/why-1600-years-of-ice-melting-in-25-years-is-a-bad-omen

Check out this article at The Week based on a paper published Science magazine. It's about glacier melt in the Peruvian Andes.

L. G. Thompson was a true pioneer. He was the first to gather ice cores from tropical glaciers. I remember watching a YouTube video of him giving an account of his career and how it started with some leftover money from Antarctica and how he first visited Quelccaya with a shoe string budget. He was only able to bring back water samples on his first expedition. I found his story as enjoyable as the data. He explained details like the logistics involved in his Himalayas trip with pictures of ice cores samples being transported by yaks.

I thought about starting a thread in Consequences about all the data being lost by melting glaciers, because many of them have never been sampled. We can thank Professor Thompson for getting it started.

solartim27

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Re: Chacaltaya Glacier, Bolivia
« Reply #4 on: October 22, 2016, 08:40:31 PM »
More of the same it seems.  Could also go in places becoming less livable.
http://climatenewsnetwork.net/bolivia-glaciers-melt-alarming-rate/
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