LA PAZ, ILLIMANI, BOLIVIA
August 9, 2006
Full moon rises over the city lights of La Paz. (The coppery color of the moonrise is a result of smog and dust in the atmosphere.) Illimani, 2nd highest mountain in Bolivia at 21,125/6,439 m, is on the right. Every glacier in the central and northern Andes, has been in rapid retreat since the late 1970's. The lower glaciers are thinning at the average rate of 1.1 meters per year; the higher glaciers at 0.5 meters per year. With the human populations below the peaks dependent on the water stored in fast-shrinking glaciers like this one, trouble lies ahead if these melting trends continue.
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