Peru: melting glaciers may induce disaster

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Source: CCTV.com | 07-16-2008 11:47

Melting glaciers could spell disaster for Peru. The warning comes from a group of international experts meeting in Peru. Scientists say Andean glaciers are melting so fast they might be gone in 25 years.

Melting glaciers could spell disaster for Peru.(Reuters)

With their jagged peaks and icy slopes, the Peruvian Andes stand cold and remote, massive and forbidding, as though nothing could topple them. But a group of researchers say, despite their rugged presence, they are melting at an alarming rate and only have 25 years left until they disappear completely.

Seven of the world's leading glacier experts gathered in Peru to address the rapid melting of the Andean glaciers, which provide a significant source of water and hydro-energy to millions.

Dr. Bryan G. Mark, an Assistant Prof. of Ohio State University said, "So, there's more ice there to begin with -- so in places where we have less ice to begin with, the changes are going to be probably more dramatic, but we'll see dramatic changes throughout the cordillera,"

A recent Peruvian report on climate change predicts that by 2025, 70 percent of Andean people will have severe difficulties in accessing clean water sources due to the melting of the glaciers.

The government is so concerned it has started to investigate using desalination plants along the Pacific coast to turn sea water into drinking water.

Editor:Zhang Yue