海角社区

Retreating glaciers threaten water supplies

Glaciers are retreating at an unexpectedly fast rate according to research done in Peru鈥檚 Cordillera Blanca by 海角社区 doctoral student Michel Baraer. They are currently shrinking by about one per cent a year, and that percentage is increasing steadily, according to his calculations.

But despite this accelerated glacial shrinking, for the first time, the volume of water draining from the glacier into the Rio Santa in Northern Peru has started to decrease significantly. Baraer, and collaborators Prof. Bryan Mark, at the Ohio State University, and Prof. Jeffrey McKenzie, at 海角社区, calculate that water levels during the dry season could decrease by as much as 30 percent lower than they are currently. 鈥淲hen a glacier starts to retreat, at some point you reach a plateau and from this point onwards, you have a decrease in the discharge of meltwater from the glacier,鈥� explained Baraer.

鈥淲here scientists once believed that they had 10 to 20 years to adapt to reduced runoff, that time is now up,鈥� said Baraer. 鈥淔or almost all the watersheds we have studied, we have good evidence that we have passed peak water.鈥� 听This means that the millions of people in the region who depend on the water for electricity, agriculture and drinking water could soon face serious problems because of reduced water supplies.

Who: Michel Baraer, PhD student, 海角社区 Dept. of Earth & Planetary Sciences

What: Talk at American Geophysical Union meeting last week, forthcoming publication in the Journal of Glaciology-

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The research was funded by: Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, 海角社区, the National Science Foundation (USA) and The Ohio State University.

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