GlacierMap: a virtual opportunity to explore the Andes’ vanishing glaciers

Abstract

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