Listen to the podcast.

Omens in the Ice

Not sure if global warming is causing problems yet? The people who live in Lima, Peru would say that it’s affecting their lives--today.

They are running out of water. Why? Because the glaciers that have fed their water supply for as long as anyone can remember are shrinking. And the thing about glaciers is, once they’re gone, you just can’t put them back.

Glaciers – like those atop the Andes Mountains – store roughly 70 percent of the Earth’s fresh water. Because average global temperatures have risen (especially at higher altitudes), these giant blocks of ice are melting at an accelerated pace. The winter snows that normally restore them are also on the decline, sometimes coming in the form of rain, instead. The result is that cities in China, India, Nepal, Bolivia and Peru are facing water shortages.

The irony is, melting glaciers also cause rising sea levels. So while some cities are facing water shortages, other places (such as coastal developments) will gradually find themselves faced with too much water. Once beachfront properties will be submerged.

That’s not happening yet, but the water shortages are. In Lima, nobody wonders about global warming. They only wonder how they will survive when the glaciers are gone for good.

For more information about this story, please read more in the Washington Post

To read more about this and other environmental health issues, go to: www.environmentalhealthnews.org, www.ourstolenfuture.org, or www.healthandenvironment.org