2 minute read
The Melting Chacaltaya Glacier
from Sample
Chacaltaya Glacier was known to be the Bolivia’s only ski resort. It is situated in La Paz, Bolivia. It was considered as the highest lift-ser ved ski area in the world, the northernmost in South America, and the world's second most equatorial after Maoke, Indonesia (Feldman, 2009). It stands at an altitude of 5,421 m (17785 ft) above sea level.
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HOW DID CHACALTAYA GLACIER CHANGE?
Source: https://insideclimatenews.org/news/06052009/bolivias-chacaltaya-glacier-melts-nothing-6-years-early/
According to Machicao and Garcia (2017), El Nino, a meteorological phenomenon thought to be exacerbated by global warming, was the primary reason why Chacaltaya Glacier altered over time. In the year 2009, the 18,000-year-old glacier was completely gone. The glacier was first studied by scientists in the 1990s. in the year 2005, they projected Chacaltaya Glacier will be gone by 2015. However, they were incorrect; in fact, the last piece of ice disappeared, making the glacier melt forever in the year 2009 (Matias, 2017). Additionally, Kobeszko (2009) discussed that the majority of experts believed that global warming is the driving force behind the glacial collapse crisis. According to a 2008 World Bank report, due to climate change, it melts muc h of the Andes glaciers over the next twenty years, putting almost one hundred million people at risk. Additionally, glacial evaporation is yet another in a deadly wave of weather events to strike Bolivia over the next few years, including soaring temperatures, droughts, storms and mudslides.
Source: https://www.insider.com/abandoned-chacaltaya-ski-resort-once-worlds-highest-ski-resort-2021-6
Source: https://unofficialnetworks.com/2020/12/09/the-highest-ski-resort-ever-built-is-now-an-abandoned-snowless-wasteland/
Bolivia's Tuni Condoriri glaciated mountain range includes the Chacaltaya Glacier. Since 1983, the whole cluster has lost more than a third of its ice mass. In the latter part of the twentieth century, average temperatures in the tropical Andes increased by around 0.6° F (0.33° C) each decade. Temperature rises of as low as 0.2° F (0.1° C) each decade may cause glaciers to decrease significantly, according to the 13,14 scientists. From the 1940s until the late 1990s, Chacaltaya Glacier lost more than 90% of its volume, eventually disappearing entirely in 2009 (Union of Concerned Scientists, 2017).
At present time, although there is still snow in the winter, the Chacaltaya mountain is brown and dry for the rest of the year (Humphries, 2021).
