As glaciers melt, Chile's future uncertain

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Miami Herald/McClatchy

As glaciers melt, Chile's future uncertain
Chile's water supply and numerous industries are in jeopardy, experts say, as the Andean nation's glaciers melt and seasons of bygone days are forgotten.
Posted on Fri, Oct. 26, 2007

BY JACK CHANG
McClatchy News Service

SAN JOSE DE MAIPO, Chile -- With a population of 16 million people, Chile doesn't produce much of the greenhouse gases blamed for global warming. But it's paying the price.

Giant glaciers are disappearing. Mudslides are becoming more common. Snow no longer falls in the spring, replaced instead by tepid rains.

In May, an entire lake in southern Chile disappeared practically overnight after the Tempano Glacier, which had acted as a dam, melted and destabilized.

And the changes aren't limited to Chile. Neighboring Argentina faces droughts near its side of the Andes due to dropping rain levels. Shrinking glaciers in Bolivia are threatening water supplies in some towns.
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Chilean researchers have found that more than half of the 120 glaciers they monitor are shrinking, with many disappearing at twice the rate recorded just a decade ago. That includes glaciers near the capital of Santiago that provide water to the city's 6 million residents.



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