El Nino speeds up Andes glacier melt

摘要

Tropical glaciers in the Andes are melting at their fastest rate for at least 12 years, thanks to the record-breaking El Nino that is warming up the area, according to data analysed for New Scientist. This is compounding the already high melting rates caused by global warming that will consign many glaciers to history within decades. "The lower-level glaciers in the Andes, below 5500 metres, are really endangered now and probably only have a couple of decades left," says Michael Zemp, director of the World Glacier Monitoring Service in Zurich, Switzerland.