Shrinking Glaciers
December 1, 2002
NY Times.com

Every so often a report comes out of a remote part of the
world that is so shocking it makes us sit bolt upright and
start thinking hard about global warming. Now it is news
from the Bolivian Andes, where glaciers more than three
miles above sea level are retreating with alarming speed,
creating the threat of potentially disastrous water
shortages.

According to a story last week by The Times's Juan Forero,
the glacier on Chacaltaya Mountain, which claims the
world's highest ski slope, has been shriveling so fast that
scientists predict its disappearance in 10 years.
Chacaltaya Mountain is hardly alone. Shrinking glaciers are
a worldwide phenomenon. Great slices of snow and ice are
disappearing in places from the Austrian Alps to Glacier
National Park in Montana, where the number of glaciers has
declined from 150 a century ago to 35 today. In 30 years,
there may be none in the park at all.

The tropical glaciers of the Andes seem to be retreating
more quickly than any others. Some scientists have warned
of a calamity in the making because countries like Bolivia
and Peru depend on glaciers and the rain and snow that fall
in the mountains for drinking water, for irrigating fields
and for generating electricity.

There appear to be two reasons for the crisis. One is a
series of unseasonably dry years attributed to El Niño, the
name given to the weather pattern generated by warm Pacific
currents off the South American coast. El Niño has occurred
with abnormal frequency in the last 20 years. The other is
climate change. In Bolivia, the average temperature has
risen by 1 degree Celsius in the last century, mirroring
changes in some other parts of the world. That may not seem
like much, but it is enough to cause environmental havoc.

This unsettling news could have a bright side if it
persuaded the Bush administration to pay more attention to
the global warming issue. A report early last month from 18
leading scientists, published in the journal Science,
called for a concentrated national effort - equal to the
Apollo moon landing project - to develop energy sources
other than fossil fuels. Most scientists now believe that
the burning of fossil fuels like coal and oil has
contributed heavily to the warming trend.

But just two weeks later, the Bush administration called
for further research into the causes of global warming.

Given the degree of consensus on the issue, the research
project looks like just one more excuse for inaction from a
president who shocked the world early in his tenure by
reneging on a campaign promise to regulate carbon dioxide,
the main global warming gas, and by renouncing the Kyoto
agreement on global climate change.

But in view of the sobering news from places like the
Andes, it is hard to imagine that Mr. Bush can sustain his
casual attitude much longer.

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/01/opinion/01SUN2.html?ex=1039749570&ei=1&en=3af408625ae01f5d