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Climate change threats to environment in the tropical Andes: glaciers and water resources

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Abstract

Almost all of the world’s glaciers in the tropical latitudes are located in the Central Andes (Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador and Colombia). Due to their high altitude, to the high level of radiation and to the tropical climate dynamics, they all are particularly threatened by climate change, as a result of not only warming, but also of changing variability of precipitation. Many glaciers are of crucial importance for the livelihood of the local populations and even for three capitals, Lima (Peru), La Paz (Bolivia) and Quito (Ecuador), which depend on them for water and energy supplies. This paper shows that after a period of increased flow due to the glacier melt disequilibrium, the available water resource will decrease along with the rapid shrinking of the glaciers considered as water reservoirs. The case of the Cordillera Blanca (Peru) is analyzed more in detail with the mid-term (20 years) and long-term (1–2 centuries) impact of the glacier shrinking on the local water resources. Associated risks for the population and consequences for the human activities (tourism, hydropower, agriculture and stock-breeding, large-scale irrigation) are described at each stage of the mountain range.

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Acknowledgments

A preliminary version of this paper has been presented in November 2004 at the OECD Global Forum on Sustainable Development and Climate Change in Paris, France, with the title: Climate Change Impact on the Water Resources from the Mountains in Peru. OECD Publication Service gave its kind permission for the current actualization and publication. The PhD thesis of Wilson Suarez (2007), Alvaro Soruco (2008) and Marcos Villacis (2008) were funded by IRD DSF. The data have been kindly provided by the following organizations: SENAMHI, INRENA, EGENOR, Duke Energy and Proyecto Especial Chavimocic from Peru; University of Innsbruck from Austria; and IRD from France with its antennas in Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru. The authors thank the anonymous reviewer, who helped to improve significantly the quality of the text, as well as the scientific editors, who corrected the English expression and remained confident during the successive versions of this paper.

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Correspondence to Pierre Chevallier.

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Chevallier, P., Pouyaud, B., Suarez, W. et al. Climate change threats to environment in the tropical Andes: glaciers and water resources. Reg Environ Change 11 (Suppl 1), 179–187 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-010-0177-6

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