Calls for policy action amid ‘cryosphere crisis’

Snowfall occurs frequently in Peru’s Cordillera Vilcanota but does not remain long due to strong solar radiation. (Photo by Bethan Davies, 2023)

Andean glaciers largely sustain the livelihoods of 90 million people in South America and help provide half of the water for the Amazon River basin. Many of them, however, may “become unviable as water resources” by 2070 if global temperatures continue to rise at the current pace. So says Jeremy Ely, senior lecturer at the University of Sheffield’s School of Geography and Planning and project lead of an on-going study carried out by a consortium of institutions based in the United Kingdom. “Projections are pretty difficult to make, but they’re also pretty scary,” Ely said in an interview for this article. Glaciers are among mountain water sources referred to as “water towers of the world.” They serve as reservoirs, storing winter snowfall to be released as meltwater in the summer. Their retreat threatens drinking water supplies, sanitation, hydropower output and ecosystems that sustain everything from farming to wildlife habitat... Read more →