Peru Has Lost 30% Of Its Glaciers Since 2000; Loss Rate 2013-16 4X That Of Prior 4-Year Period

Nearly 30 percent of Peru’s glaciers have melted away since 2000, threatening a critical source of drinking water and irrigation for millions of people downstream, according to a new study published in the journal The Cryosphere. Overall, the country lost nearly 8 gigatons of ice from 2000 to 2016, with 170 glaciers — covering an area equivalent to 80,000 soccer fields — disappearing entirely.

Scientists warn that the melting of Peru’s glaciers is only getting worse — ice loss from 2013 to 2016 was four times faster than the previous four-year period. The new research, led by scientists at the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) in Germany, is the first region-wide assessment of glacier retreat in the Peruvian Andes, which is home to 92 percent of the world’s tropical glaciers.

Peru’s glaciers have always served as an important source of water for communities downstream, from the Andes to the country’s coastline, particularly during the dry season. But as glacier melt increased in the 1970s in response to global warming, this extra water fueled urban growth and large-scale agriculture and led to the construction of several new hydroelectric dams.

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https://e360.yale.edu/digest/peruvian-glaciers-have-shrunk-by-30-percent-since-2000