{"id":14353,"date":"2019-07-27T05:04:17","date_gmt":"2019-07-27T08:04:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.glaciareschilenos.org\/?page_id=14353"},"modified":"2024-06-02T22:51:09","modified_gmt":"2024-06-03T01:51:09","slug":"why-are-glaciers-important","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.glaciareschilenos.org\/en\/why-are-glaciers-important\/","title":{"rendered":"Why are glaciers important?"},"content":{"rendered":"

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.24.3″ hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” disabled_on=”on|off|off” title_text=”Gaciares1″ background_image=”https:\/\/glaciareschilenoss3.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/02113010\/Gaciares1.jpg” background_enable_mask_style=”on” background_mask_style=”triangles” background_mask_transform=”flip_horizontal” sticky_enabled=”0″][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_3,1_3,1_3″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_button button_url=”https:\/\/www.glaciareschilenos.org\/faq\/” button_text=”PREGUNTAS GLACIARES” button_alignment=”center” _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_button=”on” button_text_size=”20px” button_font=”|700|||||||” button_use_icon=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_button][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.24.3″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_column _builder_version=”4.24.3″ _module_preset=”default” type=”4_4″][et_pb_heading title=”Why are glaciers important?” _builder_version=”4.24.3″ _module_preset=”default” title_font=”Montserrat|700|||||||” title_text_color=”#424242″ title_font_size=”35px” title_text_align=”center” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_heading][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.24.3″ _module_preset=”default” column_structure=”1_2,1_2″][et_pb_column _builder_version=”4.24.3″ _module_preset=”default” type=”1_2″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.24.3″ _module_preset=”default” background_color=”#FFFFFF” text_font=”Montserrat||||||||” custom_padding=”17px|17px|17px|17px|true|true” border_radii=”on|20px|20px|20px|20px” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n

Glaciers are a globally important part of the natural water cycle (Figure 1) and the balance of energy. Normally glaciers receive the most news headlines related to big events at large scales in Greenland and Antarctica. These events are crucially important to the future of low-lying communities around the world because loss of glacier ice contributes to an increasing average elevation of the sea level. In fact estimates of up to 20 cm average sea level rise are expected from warming scenarios of climate change by the end of the 21st Century 1,2<\/sup>. This might not sound like a lot, but when we consider the number of people whose livelihoods are at current sea levels, the impacts become severe and costly!<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/div>\n

In Chile, total contributions to sea level rise are generally small in comparison to these big ice sheets at the poles, but even contributions from the Patagonian ice fields have been estimated up to 10% of the total between the years in the last half Century 3<\/sup>. Regardless, the effect of a rising sea level will still impact coastal communities of Chile with local estimates up to 74 cm for 2100 in a worst case scenario 4<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column _builder_version=”4.24.3″ _module_preset=”default” type=”1_2″][et_pb_blurb title=”Figure 1″ image=”https:\/\/glaciareschilenoss3.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/20181027\/Ciclo-del-agua.png” _builder_version=”4.24.3″ _module_preset=”default” title_text=”Ciclo del agua” background_color=”#FFFFFF” header_font=”Montserrat||||||||” body_font=”Montserrat||||||||” body_font_size=”12px” custom_padding=”17px|17px|17px|17px|true|true” border_radii=”on|20px|20px|20px|20px” box_shadow_style=”preset1″ hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n

A scheme for the simplified water cycle annotated to show human industries and reliance upon glacier water. Source: adapted from Osslan Vergara.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.<\/p>\n

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Considering the current state of mountain glaciers and climate in Chile, their contributions to streamflow are vital! This is because they can provide important reserves of water to 1) major cities (Santiago being the most obvious example), 2) agriculture, 3) hydropower production, and 4) mining and other industries. The news that ~55% of Chile\u2019s exports come from raw or refined copper (Figure 2) 5<\/sup> is probably well known to most of the people reading this. However, the contributions of small mountain glaciers in the central and northern parts of Chile that provide water to support the extraction and production of these minerals is perhaps not. Estimates of glacier contributions to the summer streamflow and basins in central Chile is up 50-60% in dry years with little snow 6<\/sup> and this is likely to increase as the region experiences a sustained period of serious drought 7<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.24.3″ _module_preset=”default” column_structure=”1_2,1_2″][et_pb_column _builder_version=”4.24.3″ _module_preset=”default” type=”1_2″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.24.3″ _module_preset=”default” background_color=”#FFFFFF” text_font=”Montserrat||||||||” custom_padding=”17px|17px|17px|17px|true|true” border_radii=”on|20px|20px|20px|20px” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n

Equally, foodstuffs and production of wines are sizeable contributions to Chile\u2019s exports (Just think of all that Casillero del Diablo being drunk in the US and Europe!) and these are equally sensitive to the availability of water which is generally decreasing for many regions of country. Therefore, glaciers hold a much greater socio-economic importance both in Chile and the world than many of us may realize.<\/p>\n

Next time you open your water tap or take a shower, think that some of that precious H2<\/sub>O could be sourced from our friendly frozen rivers.<\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column _builder_version=”4.24.3″ _module_preset=”default” type=”1_2″][et_pb_blurb title=”Figure 3″ image=”https:\/\/glaciareschilenoss3.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/20181006\/Chile-Exportaciones-2017.png” _builder_version=”4.24.3″ _module_preset=”default” title_text=”Chile Exportaciones 2017″ background_color=”#FFFFFF” header_font=”Montserrat||||||||” body_font=”Montserrat||||||||” body_font_size=”12px” custom_padding=”17px|17px|17px|17px|true|true” border_radii=”on|20px|20px|20px|20px” box_shadow_style=”preset1″ hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n

Chile\u2019s export summary as generated by the Economic Complexity Observatory: https:\/\/atlas.media.mit.edu\/es\/<\/em><\/p>\n

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\u00a0<\/div>\n
Cited information:<\/strong><\/h6>\n
\n

1<\/sup> Church, J.A., P.U. Clark, A. Cazenave, J.M. Gregory, S. Jevrejeva, A. Levermann, M.A. Merrifield, G.A. Milne, R.S. Nerem, P.D. Nunn, A.J. Payne, W.T. Pfeffer, D. Stammer and A.S. Unnikrishnan, 2013: Sea Level Change. In: Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Stocker, T.F., D. Qin, G.-K. Plattner, M. Tignor, S.K. Allen, J. Boschung, A. Nauels, Y. Xia, V. Bex and P.M. Midgley (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA.
2<\/sup> Kopp, R. E., Deconto, R. M., Bader, D. A., Hay, C. C., Radley, M., Kulp, S., \u2026 Strauss, B. H. (2017). Evolving Understanding of Antarctic Ice-Sheet Physics and Ambiguity in Probabilistic Sea-Level Projections Earth\u2019s Future., 5, 1217\u20131233.
3 <\/sup>Glasser, N. F., Harrison, S., Jansson, K. N., Anderson, K., & Cowley, A. (2011). Global sea-level contribution from the Patagonian Icefields since the Little Ice Age maximum. Nature Geoscience, 4(5), 303\u2013307. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/ngeo1122
Rignot, E., Rivera, A., & Casassa, G. (2003). Contribution of the Patagonia Icefields of South America to Sea Level Rise. Science, 302(OCTOBER), 434\u2013438.
4 <\/sup>Albrecht, F. & Shaffer, G. (2016). Regional Sea-Level Change along the Chilean Coast in the 21st Century. Journal of Coastal Research: Volume 32, Issue 6: pp. 1322 \u2013 1332.
5 <\/sup>Simoes A.J.G. & Hidalgo,C.A. (2011) The Economic Complexity Observatory: An Analytical Tool for Understanding the Dynamics of Economic Development. Workshops at the Twenty-Fifth AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence. https:\/\/atlas.media.mit.edu\/es\/<\/a> (Last access on 14\/03\/2019)
6<\/sup> Burger, F., Ayala, A., Farias, D., Shaw, T. E., Macdonell, S., Brock, B., McPhee, J., Pellicciotti, F. (2018). Interannual variability in glacier contribution to runoff from a high \u2010 elevation Andean catchment: understanding the role of debris cover in glacier hydrology. Hydrological Processes, SI-Latin(January), 1\u201316. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/hyp.13354<\/a>
7<\/sup> Garreaud, R. D., Alvarez-Garreton, C., Barichivich, J., Pablo Boisier, J., Christie, D., Galleguillos, M., \u2026 Zambrano-Bigiarini, M. (2017). The 2010-2015 megadrought in central Chile: Impacts on regional hydroclimate and vegetation. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 21(12), 6307\u20136327. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.5194\/hess-21-6307-2017<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Written by Thomas Shaw.<\/em>
Edited by Equipo Glaciar.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Why are glaciers important?<\/b><\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

Glaciers are a globally important part of the natural water cycle (Figure 1) and the balance of energy. Normally glaciers receive the most news headlines related to big events at large scales in Greenland and Antarctica. These events are crucially important to the future of low-lying communities around the world because loss of glacier ice contributes to an increasing average elevation of the sea level. In fact estimates of up to 20 cm average sea level rise are expected from warming scenarios of climate change by the end of the 21st Century 1,2<\/sup>. This might not sound like a lot, but when we consider the number of people whose livelihoods are at current sea levels, the impacts become severe and costly!<\/p>\n

\"\"

Figure 1. A scheme for the simplified water cycle annotated to show human industries and reliance upon glacier water. Source: adapted from Osslan Vergara.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

In Chile, total contributions to sea level rise are generally small in comparison to these big ice sheets at the poles, but even contributions from the Patagonian ice fields have been estimated up to 10% of the total between the years in the last half Century 3<\/sup>. Regardless, the effect of a rising sea level will still impact coastal communities of Chile with local estimates up to 74 cm for 2100 in a worst case scenario 4<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Figure 2. Coastal sea level rise for 2100 according to a RCP 8,5 scenario. Source: adapted from Kopp et al. (2017) 2<\/sup>.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Considering the current state of mountain glaciers and climate in Chile, their contributions to streamflow are vital! This is because they can provide important reserves of water to 1) major cities (Santiago being the most obvious example), 2) agriculture, 3) hydropower production, and 4) mining and other industries. The news that ~55% of Chile\u2019s exports come from raw or refined copper (Figure 2) 5<\/sup> is probably well known to most of the people reading this. However, the contributions of small mountain glaciers in the central and northern parts of Chile that provide water to support the extraction and production of these minerals is perhaps not. Estimates of glacier contributions to the summer streamflow and basins in central Chile is up 50-60% in dry years with little snow 6<\/sup> and this is likely to increase as the region experiences a sustained period of serious drought 7<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Figure 3. Chile\u2019s export summary as generated by the Economic Complexity Observatory: https:\/\/atlas.media.mit.edu\/es\/<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Equally, foodstuffs and production of wines are sizeable contributions to Chile\u2019s exports (Just think of all that Casillero del Diablo being drunk in the US and Europe!) and these are equally sensitive to the availability of water which is generally decreasing for many regions of country. Therefore, glaciers hold a much greater socio-economic importance both in Chile and the world than many of us may realize.<\/p>\n

Next time you open your water tap or take a shower, think that some of that precious H2<\/sub>O could be sourced from our friendly frozen rivers.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Cited information:<\/p>\n

1<\/sup> Church, J.A., P.U. Clark, A. Cazenave, J.M. Gregory, S. Jevrejeva, A. Levermann, M.A. Merrifield, G.A. Milne, R.S. Nerem, P.D. Nunn, A.J. Payne, W.T. Pfeffer, D. Stammer and A.S. Unnikrishnan, 2013: Sea Level Change. In: Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Stocker, T.F., D. Qin, G.-K. Plattner, M. Tignor, S.K. Allen, J. Boschung, A. Nauels, Y. Xia, V. Bex and P.M. Midgley (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA.
2<\/sup> Kopp, R. E., Deconto, R. M., Bader, D. A., Hay, C. C., Radley, M., Kulp, S., \u2026 Strauss, B. H. (2017). Evolving Understanding of Antarctic Ice-Sheet Physics and Ambiguity in Probabilistic Sea-Level Projections Earth\u2019s Future., 5, 1217\u20131233.
3 <\/sup>Glasser, N. F., Harrison, S., Jansson, K. N., Anderson, K., & Cowley, A. (2011). Global sea-level contribution from the Patagonian Icefields since the Little Ice Age maximum. Nature Geoscience, 4(5), 303\u2013307. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/ngeo1122
Rignot, E., Rivera, A., & Casassa, G. (2003). Contribution of the Patagonia Icefields of South America to Sea Level Rise. Science, 302(OCTOBER), 434\u2013438.
4 <\/sup>Albrecht, F. & Shaffer, G. (2016). Regional Sea-Level Change along the Chilean Coast in the 21st Century. Journal of Coastal Research: Volume 32, Issue 6: pp. 1322 \u2013 1332.
5 <\/sup>Simoes A.J.G. & Hidalgo,C.A. (2011) The Economic Complexity Observatory: An Analytical Tool for Understanding the Dynamics of Economic Development. Workshops at the Twenty-Fifth AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence. https:\/\/atlas.media.mit.edu\/es\/<\/a> (Last access on 14\/03\/2019)
6<\/sup> Burger, F., Ayala, A., Farias, D., Shaw, T. E., Macdonell, S., Brock, B., McPhee, J., Pellicciotti, F. (2018). Interannual variability in glacier contribution to runoff from a high \u2010 elevation Andean catchment: understanding the role of debris cover in glacier hydrology. Hydrological Processes, SI-Latin(January), 1\u201316. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/hyp.13354<\/a>
7<\/sup> Garreaud, R. D., Alvarez-Garreton, C., Barichivich, J., Pablo Boisier, J., Christie, D., Galleguillos, M., \u2026 Zambrano-Bigiarini, M. (2017). The 2010-2015 megadrought in central Chile: Impacts on regional hydroclimate and vegetation. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 21(12), 6307\u20136327. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.5194\/hess-21-6307-2017<\/a><\/p>\n

Written by Thomas Shaw.<\/em>
Edited by Equipo Glaciar.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Glaciers are a globally important part of the natural water cycle (Figure 1) and the balance of energy. Normally glaciers receive the most news headlines related to big events at large scales in Greenland and Antarctica. These events are crucially important to the future of low-lying communities around the world because loss of glacier ice […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"googlesitekit_rrm_CAow57LVCw:productID":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"

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\u00bfPor qu\u00e9 los glaciares son importantes?<\/strong><\/h2>

\u00a0<\/p>

Los glaciares son una parte importante, a nivel mundial, del ciclo natural del agua (Figura 1) y el balance de energ\u00eda. Normalmente, los glaciares reciben la mayor\u00eda de los titulares de noticias relacionados con grandes eventos a gran escala en Groenlandia y la Ant\u00e1rtida. Estos eventos son de crucial importancia para el futuro de las comunidades costeras en todo el mundo porque la p\u00e9rdida de hielo en los glaciares contribuye a un aumento promedio del nivel del mar. De hecho, se esperan estimaciones de hasta 20 cm de aumento promedio del nivel del mar a partir de los escenarios de calentamiento del cambio clim\u00e1tico para fines del siglo XXI 1,2<\/sup>. Esto puede no parecer mucho, pero cuando consideramos la cantidad de personas cuyos medios de vida se encuentran en los niveles actuales del mar, \u00a1los impactos se vuelven severos y costosos!.<\/p>[caption id=\"attachment_3208\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"679\"]\"\" Figura 1. Un esquema para el ciclo del agua simplificado indicando las industrias humanas y la dependencia del agua del glaciar. Fuente: adaptado de Osslan Vergara.<\/em>[\/caption]

\u00a0<\/p>

En Chile, las contribuciones totales al aumento del nivel del mar son generalmente peque\u00f1as en comparaci\u00f3n con las grandes capas de hielo en los polos, pero incluso las contribuciones de los campos de hielo patag\u00f3nicos se han estimado de hasta un 10% del total desde 1960 3<\/sup>. Independiente de ello, el efecto del aumento del nivel del mar igualmente afectar\u00e1 a las comunidades costeras de Chile, con estimaciones locales de hasta 74 cm para el 2100 en el peor de los casos 4<\/sup>.<\/p>[caption id=\"attachment_3207\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"399\"]\"\" Figura 2. Aumento del nivel del mar costero para el a\u00f1o 2100 seg\u00fan un escenario RCP 8,5. Fuente: adaptado de Kopp et al. (2017) 2<\/sup>.<\/em>[\/caption]

\u00a0<\/p>

Teniendo en cuenta el estado actual de los glaciares de monta\u00f1a y el clima en Chile, \u00a1sus contribuciones al flujo de agua son vitales! Esto se debe a que pueden proporcionar importantes reservas de agua a 1) ciudades importantes (Santiago es el ejemplo m\u00e1s obvio), 2) agricultura, 3) producci\u00f3n de energ\u00eda hidroel\u00e9ctrica y 4) miner\u00eda y otras industrias. La noticia de que el ~55% de las exportaciones de Chile provienen de cobre crudo o refinado (Figura 2) 5<\/sup> es probablemente bien conocida por la mayor\u00eda de las personas que leen esto. Sin embargo, las contribuciones de los peque\u00f1os glaciares de monta\u00f1a en el norte y centro de Chile, que proveen agua para apoyar la extracci\u00f3n y producci\u00f3n de estos minerales, quiz\u00e1s no sean bien conocidas. Las estimaciones de las contribuciones de los glaciares al flujo h\u00eddrico en verano y las cuencas en el centro de Chile aumentaron en un 50-60% en a\u00f1os secos con poca nieve 6<\/sup>, y es probable que esto aumente a medida que la regi\u00f3n experimente un per\u00edodo sostenido de sequ\u00eda 7<\/sup>.<\/p>[caption id=\"attachment_3206\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"836\"]\"\" Figura 3. Resumen de exportaci\u00f3n de Chile generado por el Observatorio de Complejidad Econ\u00f3mica: https:\/\/atlas.media.mit.edu\/es\/<\/em>[\/caption]

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Igualmente, los productos alimenticios y la producci\u00f3n de vinos son importantes contribuciones a las exportaciones de Chile (\u00a1solo piense en todo lo que Casillero del Diablo abastece a las g\u00f3ndolas de los Estados Unidos y Europa!) y son igualmente sensibles a la disponibilidad de agua, que en general est\u00e1 disminuyendo en muchas regiones del pa\u00eds. Por lo tanto, los glaciares tienen una importancia socioecon\u00f3mica mucho mayor, tanto en Chile como en el mundo, de lo que muchos de nosotros podemos darnos cuenta.<\/p>

La pr\u00f3xima vez que abra su grifo de agua o tome una ducha, piense que parte de ese precioso H2<\/sub>O podr\u00eda venir de nuestros amigables r\u00edos de hielo.<\/p>

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Informaci\u00f3n citada:<\/p>

1<\/sup> Church, J.A., P.U. Clark, A. Cazenave, J.M. Gregory, S. Jevrejeva, A. Levermann, M.A. Merrifield, G.A. Milne, R.S. Nerem, P.D. Nunn, A.J. Payne, W.T. Pfeffer, D. Stammer and A.S. Unnikrishnan, 2013: Sea Level Change. In: Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Stocker, T.F., D. Qin, G.-K. Plattner, M. Tignor, S.K. Allen, J. Boschung, A. Nauels, Y. Xia, V. Bex and P.M. Midgley (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA.
2<\/sup> Kopp, R. E., Deconto, R. M., Bader, D. A., Hay, C. C., Radley, M., Kulp, S., \u2026 Strauss, B. H. (2017). Evolving Understanding of Antarctic Ice-Sheet Physics and Ambiguity in Probabilistic Sea-Level Projections Earth\u2019s Future., 5, 1217\u20131233.
3 <\/sup>Glasser, N. F., Harrison, S., Jansson, K. N., Anderson, K., & Cowley, A. (2011). Global sea-level contribution from the Patagonian Icefields since the Little Ice Age maximum. Nature Geoscience, 4(5), 303\u2013307. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/ngeo1122
Rignot, E., Rivera, A., & Casassa, G. (2003). Contribution of the Patagonia Icefields of South America to Sea Level Rise. Science, 302(OCTOBER), 434\u2013438.
4 <\/sup>Albrecht, F. & Shaffer, G. (2016). Regional Sea-Level Change along the Chilean Coast in the 21st Century. Journal of Coastal Research: Volume 32, Issue 6: pp. 1322 \u2013 1332.
5 <\/sup>Simoes A.J.G. & Hidalgo,C.A. (2011) The Economic Complexity Observatory: An Analytical Tool for Understanding the Dynamics of Economic Development. Workshops at the Twenty-Fifth AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence. https:\/\/atlas.media.mit.edu\/es\/<\/a> (Last access on 14\/03\/2019)
6<\/sup> Burger, F., Ayala, A., Farias, D., Shaw, T. E., Macdonell, S., Brock, B., McPhee, J., Pellicciotti, F. (2018). Interannual variability in glacier contribution to runoff from a high \u2010 elevation Andean catchment: understanding the role of debris cover in glacier hydrology. Hydrological Processes, SI-Latin(January), 1\u201316. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/hyp.13354<\/a>
7<\/sup> Garreaud, R. D., Alvarez-Garreton, C., Barichivich, J., Pablo Boisier, J., Christie, D., Galleguillos, M., \u2026 Zambrano-Bigiarini, M. (2017). The 2010-2015 megadrought in central Chile: Impacts on regional hydroclimate and vegetation. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 21(12), 6307\u20136327. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.5194\/hess-21-6307-2017<\/a><\/p>

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Escrito por Thomas Shaw.<\/em>
Editado por Equipo Glaciar.<\/em><\/p>

[\/et_pb_tab][et_pb_tab title=\"English\" _builder_version=\"4.4.2\"]<\/p>

Why are glaciers important?<\/b><\/h2>

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Glaciers are a globally important part of the natural water cycle (Figure 1) and the balance of energy. Normally glaciers receive the most news headlines related to big events at large scales in Greenland and Antarctica. These events are crucially important to the future of low-lying communities around the world because loss of glacier ice contributes to an increasing average elevation of the sea level. In fact estimates of up to 20 cm average sea level rise are expected from warming scenarios of climate change by the end of the 21st Century 1,2<\/sup>. This might not sound like a lot, but when we consider the number of people whose livelihoods are at current sea levels, the impacts become severe and costly!<\/p>[caption id=\"attachment_3208\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"679\"]\"\" Figure 1. A scheme for the simplified water cycle annotated to show human industries and reliance upon glacier water. Source: adapted from Osslan Vergara.<\/em>[\/caption]

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In Chile, total contributions to sea level rise are generally small in comparison to these big ice sheets at the poles, but even contributions from the Patagonian ice fields have been estimated up to 10% of the total between the years in the last half Century 3<\/sup>. Regardless, the effect of a rising sea level will still impact coastal communities of Chile with local estimates up to 74 cm for 2100 in a worst case scenario 4<\/sup>.<\/p>[caption id=\"attachment_3207\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"399\"]\"\" Figure 2. Coastal sea level rise for 2100 according to a RCP 8,5 scenario. Source: adapted from Kopp et al. (2017) 2<\/sup>.<\/em>[\/caption]

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Considering the current state of mountain glaciers and climate in Chile, their contributions to streamflow are vital! This is because they can provide important reserves of water to 1) major cities (Santiago being the most obvious example), 2) agriculture, 3) hydropower production, and 4) mining and other industries. The news that ~55% of Chile\u2019s exports come from raw or refined copper (Figure 2) 5<\/sup> is probably well known to most of the people reading this. However, the contributions of small mountain glaciers in the central and northern parts of Chile that provide water to support the extraction and production of these minerals is perhaps not. Estimates of glacier contributions to the summer streamflow and basins in central Chile is up 50-60% in dry years with little snow 6<\/sup> and this is likely to increase as the region experiences a sustained period of serious drought 7<\/sup>.<\/p>[caption id=\"attachment_3206\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"836\"]\"\" Figure 3. Chile\u2019s export summary as generated by the Economic Complexity Observatory: https:\/\/atlas.media.mit.edu\/es\/<\/em>[\/caption]

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Equally, foodstuffs and production of wines are sizeable contributions to Chile\u2019s exports (Just think of all that Casillero del Diablo being drunk in the US and Europe!) and these are equally sensitive to the availability of water which is generally decreasing for many regions of country. Therefore, glaciers hold a much greater socio-economic importance both in Chile and the world than many of us may realize.<\/p>

Next time you open your water tap or take a shower, think that some of that precious H2<\/sub>O could be sourced from our friendly frozen rivers.<\/p>

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Cited information:<\/p>

1<\/sup> Church, J.A., P.U. Clark, A. Cazenave, J.M. Gregory, S. Jevrejeva, A. Levermann, M.A. Merrifield, G.A. Milne, R.S. Nerem, P.D. Nunn, A.J. Payne, W.T. Pfeffer, D. Stammer and A.S. Unnikrishnan, 2013: Sea Level Change. In: Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Stocker, T.F., D. Qin, G.-K. Plattner, M. Tignor, S.K. Allen, J. Boschung, A. Nauels, Y. Xia, V. Bex and P.M. Midgley (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA.
2<\/sup> Kopp, R. E., Deconto, R. M., Bader, D. A., Hay, C. C., Radley, M., Kulp, S., \u2026 Strauss, B. H. (2017). Evolving Understanding of Antarctic Ice-Sheet Physics and Ambiguity in Probabilistic Sea-Level Projections Earth\u2019s Future., 5, 1217\u20131233.
3 <\/sup>Glasser, N. F., Harrison, S., Jansson, K. N., Anderson, K., & Cowley, A. (2011). Global sea-level contribution from the Patagonian Icefields since the Little Ice Age maximum. Nature Geoscience, 4(5), 303\u2013307. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/ngeo1122
Rignot, E., Rivera, A., & Casassa, G. (2003). Contribution of the Patagonia Icefields of South America to Sea Level Rise. Science, 302(OCTOBER), 434\u2013438.
4 <\/sup>Albrecht, F. & Shaffer, G. (2016). Regional Sea-Level Change along the Chilean Coast in the 21st Century. Journal of Coastal Research: Volume 32, Issue 6: pp. 1322 \u2013 1332.
5 <\/sup>Simoes A.J.G. & Hidalgo,C.A. (2011) The Economic Complexity Observatory: An Analytical Tool for Understanding the Dynamics of Economic Development. Workshops at the Twenty-Fifth AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence. https:\/\/atlas.media.mit.edu\/es\/<\/a> (Last access on 14\/03\/2019)
6<\/sup> Burger, F., Ayala, A., Farias, D., Shaw, T. E., Macdonell, S., Brock, B., McPhee, J., Pellicciotti, F. (2018). Interannual variability in glacier contribution to runoff from a high \u2010 elevation Andean catchment: understanding the role of debris cover in glacier hydrology. Hydrological Processes, SI-Latin(January), 1\u201316. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/hyp.13354<\/a>
7<\/sup> Garreaud, R. D., Alvarez-Garreton, C., Barichivich, J., Pablo Boisier, J., Christie, D., Galleguillos, M., \u2026 Zambrano-Bigiarini, M. (2017). The 2010-2015 megadrought in central Chile: Impacts on regional hydroclimate and vegetation. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 21(12), 6307\u20136327. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.5194\/hess-21-6307-2017<\/a><\/p>

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Written by Thomas Shaw.<\/em>
Edited by Equipo Glaciar.<\/em><\/p>

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