Reply #28: As Andean Glaciers Shrink, Water Worries Grow

[jpak]

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9805E3DA1039F937A15752C1A9649C8B63

From the top of this snow-capped peak 17,400 feet up, the surrounding Royal Range looks as healthy as ever: deep, glittering snow and a thick covering of glaciers as far as the eye can see.

But as Eulalio Gonzales, a veteran mountain guide, surveyed from the craggy peak overlooking Bolivia's windswept highlands, all he saw were remnants, fading and shrinking fast.

This mountain's glacier, boasting the world's highest ski slope, has been melting so steadily that scientists predict its demise in a decade. The Zongo glacier on the nearby mountain of Huayna Potosi is retreating by 10 yards a year.

On a third peak, the 18,000-foot Condoriri, the glacier that supplies the largest reservoir in the Bolivian highlands is shriveling so fast that scientists fear a scarcity of drinking water in the decades to come.

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