Global warming melts Peruvian peaks 27 July 04

In addition to the errors that you noted in this article, it also misrepresents the population and cities that live on the periphery of the National Park. These cities did not “spring up” solely for tourism. They have been inhabited by rural, agro-pastoral local populations for many years and rely upon the hydrologic resources for crops and their cattle. The urban tourism industry is a relatively new phenonomenon. However the majority of inhabitants are engaged in multiple livelihood strategies including the mining industry, flower production, recent corporate agriculture for international export, and cheese production.

You and the media (at last) are paying attention to the melting-Andes warning signal. Yet National Geographic Magazine, which is very much concerned about GW (many a good article or feature on it!)has inadvertenly sent a mixed signal in its current US issue. They have the story of a group of adventurers who recently braved a glacier and ice field in Patagonia to prove they could do it. Great challenge, and I congratulate them on their success, but the pictures of the harsh snowy-icy environs (which do still exist!) probably have people who’ve read recent stories about the melting glaciers of Patagonia wonder “what’s going on here?”. To them, it’s an either-or question: are glaciers melting, or is it still sub-freezing down there? The idea that both conditions exist, depending on the area you’re in, never crosses their minds…and, of course, the nay-sayers will do all they can to see that it never will. Sigh. Sometimes delivering the message seems SO fruitless—and yet, one has to keep trying.