GlacierMap

A virtual opportunity to explore the Andes’ vanishing glaciers

Dados Bibliográficos

ID21321997
AutoresCaroline Clason (0000-0001-8236-2555, Twitter (United States), autor correspondente), Sally Rangecroft (0000-0002-6900-8452), Gina Kallis (0000-0002-6872-7156), Shaun Lewin, Tom Mullier (0000-0002-3648-8023)
Ano2021
Volume106
Fascículo3
Páginas148-153
Data de publicação2021-09-02
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoGeography (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0016-7487 • E-ISSN: 2043-6564
EditoraInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00167487.2021.1970932
OpenAlexW3202074647
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas3
Referências citadas19

For many of us, when we think about glaciers, we might imagine cold, icy polar environments such\nas the Arctic or Antarctica and their associated characteristic fauna. However, the existence of\nglaciers is not limited to high latitudes, with numerous glaciers also found close to, or even within,\nthe Tropics, where elevation is high enough for snow and ice to persist year-round. Indeed, high\nmountain regions at lower latitudes, such as the South American Andes and the Asian Himalayas, are\nhome to many hundreds of glaciers and these glaciers provide important water resources for local\npopulations. These mountain glaciers act as “water towers” (Immerzeel et al., 2020), supplying both\nthe environment and millions of people downstream with freshwater. This freshwater supply\nbecomes especially important during the driest times of year when contribution from precipitation is\nlow, yet water demand is high.\nAs well as being an important water source, glaciers are a key indicator of environmental change,\nparticularly in this new Anthropocene era (Lewis and Maslin, 2015). It is now widely understood that\nglaciers in all of Earth’s currently-glaciated regions are undergoing widespread retreat in response to\nclimate change, including both increasing air temperatures and changing spatio-temporal patterns of\nprecipitation. The tropical glaciers of the Peruvian Andes are no exception, and glacier retreat in this\nregion is posing a threat to the resource security of millions of people (Painter, 2007; Rasul and\nModlen, 2019). Tropical glaciers in the Andes are actually retreating quicker than many glaciers\nelsewhere due to their sensitivity to changes in climate (Bradley et al., 2006; Rangecroft et al., 2013)

Arctic · Astronomy · Geography · Geomorphology · Glacier · Glaciology · Physical geography · Physics · Polar · The arctic · Cryospheric studies and observations · Geology · Oceanography · Paleontology · Polar Research and Ecology · Species Distribution and Climate Change · Stratigraphy