Earth warms, ice mountains melt

The ice on the top of the White Mountains (Cordillera Blanca) of Peru, is considered the largest ice in the tropics, is melting fast . Scientists track the melting of the iceberg over fears, mountains White will soon have to change its name when the white ice sheets no longer cover the top of the mountain.

According to scientists, the melting speed of glaciers reflects global warming. What is happening at the top of the Cordillera Blanca in the Andes is really worrying.

Lonnie Thompson, a leading expert on snow and ice at Ohio State University, said that tropical glaciers worldwide are melting due to rising temperatures, with increasing melting rates.

Lonnie Thompson is the person who is watching the melting of many major mountain ranges like the Andes, Himalayas, Kilimanjaro. According to the expert, the peak of Quelccaya in southern Peru, the world's largest tropical ice mountain peak, now has a melting speed of about 60 meters per year, a 10-fold increase compared to the melting speed of the 1960s. before.

According to Peru's National Institute of Natural Resources (INRENA), since 1970, the Andes in Peru accounts for 70% of the total area of ​​tropical icebergs in the world, has lost 22% of the ice area.

Cordillera Blanca - Cordillera Blanca (Photo: scandinavianascents)

The famous natural ice caves here have also disappeared. Ice melting also occurs in other Andean countries like Colombia, Bolivia, Venezuela, Ecuador.

In the long run, the melting of the White Ice Mountain threatens freshwater supplies for nearly 20 million Peruvian people living along the coast because freshwater resources here only meet 1.8% of the demand. use.

Fresh water from glaciers forms rivers that provide irrigation water for agriculture and hydropower plants, producing up to 70% of the country's electricity.