The glacial lake that vanished in the Magallanes region of southern Chile now is gradually filling up and scientists blamed the global warming as the major reason for the the lake's disappearance.
After flying over the lake Monday scientists said they were able to draw preliminary conclusions that point to climate change as the leading culprit for the lake's disappearance.
They suggested the melting of nearby glaciers raised the lake's level to the point where the increased water pressure caused part of a glacier acting as a dam to give way. Water in the lake flowed out of the breach, into a nearby fiord and then to the sea, said Andres Rivera, a glaciologist with Chile's Center of Scientific Studies.
Rivera, accompanied by an expert from the Chilean Antarctic Institute, flew over the site in a navy airplane, taking hundreds of photographs.
"On one side of the Bernardo glacier one can see a large hole or gap, and we believe that's where the water flowed through," Rivera said in a navy communique. "This confirms that glaciers in the region are retreating and getting thinner."
He said that the bottom of the vanished lake again has some water, likely from the melting ice.
The advance and retreat of glaciers is part of the normal dynamics of the Patagonia but climate change was distorting the process, Rivera said.
"This would not be happening if the temperature had not increased," Rivera said.
Link: Times Union & Picture: BBC
Post Title
→Global Warming Blamed for the Disappearance of Chilean Lake
Post URL
→https://blognews12.blogspot.com/2007/07/global-warming-blamed-for-disappearance.html
Visit All News Blog for Daily Updated All News Blog Collection
No comments:
Post a Comment