LA PAZ (Reuters) – Scientists in Bolivia hope to track glacial changes at the speed of light.
New scientific equipment being installed on the peak of the country’s Huayna Potosi mountain will provide real-time measurements of glacier mass, compared to older, much slower methods.
Edson Ramirez, a glaciologist at the Superior University of San Andrés in Bolivia, said the equipment could take hourly measurements of glacial mass compared to classical glacialogy methods, capable of monthly or annual readings.
“This time we are doing it in a very short time and in real time,” Ramirez said.
The measurements could help gauge melt rates or how much life a glacier has left, he added.
Glaciers play a significant role in water supply throughout the Andes mountain range, with studies showing that they provide around 27% of the water in Bolivia’s Cordillera Real region in the dry season.
Extreme weather events such as heat waves and droughts have strained water supplies across South America, making more accurate measurements of glaciers a critical tool.
“You can’t take action or prepare for the future if you don’t know where you are,” said Gerd Dercon, head of the soil, water management and crop nutrition laboratory at the Joint FAO/IAEA Center for Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture. .
Dercon said the measurements would help create a baseline.
“From that baseline you can take action,” he said, such as improving reservoir capacity, adjusting water flow or building more reservoirs.
(Reporting by Monica Machiaco; writing by Alexander Villegas; editing by Jamie Freed)
