Read the article about a glacier in a mountainous area of Peru in South America,
and then answer the following questions.
A disappearing glacier
Glaciers are huge masses of ice and snow and are found in many mountainous
regions of the world. Unfortunately, global warming is causing many of them to
melt.
Pastoruri is a glacier 5000 metres above sea level in Huascaran National Park in
central Peru. In the 1990s, it attracted 100 000 tourists a year and was Peru’s top
ski resort. But half of the glacier has now disappeared and now just 30 000
visitors go there annually. Several years ago, the National Park managers
banned all skiing and snowboarding on the glacier, blaming these activities for the loss of ice. Pastoruri
continued melting, however, and people must now stay off it for their own safety.
Mountain glaciers stay cooler when they are surrounded by other mountains with glaciers on them.
Pastoruri, however, doesn’t have other ice-covered mountains around it, and is disappearing more
rapidly.
The National Park managers want to attract tourists back to the region and have created the Climate
Change Walking Tour, which I recently went on with a local guide called Carlos. The tour includes visiting
a new Education Centre which has a fascinating display of photographs of Pastoruri ‘before and now’.
They show how the thick ice has melted to reveal the dark-coloured rocks underneath.
In normal conditions, a glacier loses some ice during the hotter months of the year, but then builds up ice
again when the temperature falls. The climate in Peru has changed, however, and Pastoruri doesn’t re-
grow in the cooler months. “That’s why it’s technically incorrect to call it a glacier now,” our guide
explained.
On the tour, Carlos pointed out some amazing dinosaur footprints in the rock, preserved from before the
glacier first formed. We were thrilled when Carlos showed us the bones of an animal that had lived 150
000 years ago.
Glaciers worldwide 2009–2014 Melting glaciers are causing serious problems. In the mountainous
year areas of Peru, melted ice may soon cause floods in nearby towns and cities. At
lower levels, large urban areas on the coast of Peru may
0 suffer in other ways. “As the glaciers continue to shrink,” said
Carlos,
“the supply of fresh water coming down from the mountains will
–200 decrease, which is worrying in the
long term.”
–400
–600Engineers have investigated different ways of preserving Pastoruri. In
–800 one project, they covered a small section of the glacier with sawdust, a powdery material produced by
cutting wood. This idea came from
–1000
traditional methods used to prevent ice from melting. In another –1200 experiment, engineers painted
black rocks near the glacier white, –1400thinking that white would reflect sunlight and keep temperatures
low. –1600 These projects had limited success.
As we reached the lake at the foot of Pastoruri, Carlos pointed to a
stunningly beautiful ice cave in the glacier, which I felt I had to take photos of. “The lake water is warmer
than the glacier,” Carlos said. “This makes the lower part of the glacier melt faster. As a result, the lake is
getting bigger and it’s starting to flood the valleys below.” He believes that engineers will soon need to
drain the lake.
Minerals in rocks that appear when the glacier ice melts also cause a problem. They get washed down
into rivers and make the river water acidic. “Local farmers use river water on their land and it’s not good
for their crops,” Carlos explained. Biologists believe that one way to deal with this is to store the water in
wetland areas before it reaches the rivers. They encourage farmers to plant certain wetland grasses,
which help to clean the water by taking up acids from the water through their roots.
The environment continues to change, but local people are trying hard to adapt.
(a) What did the National Park managers first think caused the Pastoruri glacier to melt? [1]
(b) Why has Pastoruri melted faster than some other glaciers?
[1]
(c) What evidence is there that Pastoruri is not a real glacier anymore?
[1]
(d) According to the graph, in which two years between 2009 and 2014 did glaciers lose most
ice?
[1]
(e) Why will glaciers cause problems for cities next to the sea?
[1]
(f) What methods have engineers used to try to stop Pastoruri melting? Give two details. [2]
(g) What problems are caused by the lake at the bottom of Pastoruri? Give two details. [2]
(h) What happens to minerals found in rocks when the glacier melts?
Answers
Answer:
Read the article about a glacier in a mountainous area of Peru in South America,
and then answer the following questions.
A disappearing glacier
Glaciers are huge masses of ice and snow and are found in many mountainous
regions of the world. Unfortunately, global warming is causing many of them to
melt.
Pastoruri is a glacier 5000 metres above sea level in Huascaran National Park in
central Peru. In the 1990s, it attracted 100 000 tourists a year and was Peru’s top
ski resort. But half of the glacier has now disappeared and now just 30 000
visitors go there annually. Several years ago, the National Park managers
banned all skiing and snowboarding on the glacier, blaming these activities for the loss of ice. Pastoruri
continued melting, however, and people must now stay off it for their own safety.
Mountain glaciers stay cooler when they are surrounded by other mountains with glaciers on them.
Pastoruri, however, doesn’t have other ice-covered mountains around it, and is disappearing more
rapidly.
The National Park managers want to attract tourists back to the region and have created the Climate
Change Walking Tour, which I recently went on with a local guide called Carlos. The tour includes visiting
a new Education Centre which has a fascinating display of photographs of Pastoruri ‘before and now’.
They show how the thick ice has melted to reveal the dark-coloured rocks underneath.
In normal conditions, a glacier loses some ice during the hotter months of the year, but then builds up ice
again when the temperature falls. The climate in Peru has changed, however, and Pastoruri doesn’t re-
grow in the cooler months. “That’s why it’s technically incorrect to call it a glacier now,” our guide
explained.
On the tour, Carlos pointed out some amazing dinosaur footprints in the rock, preserved from before the
glacier first formed. We were thrilled when Carlos showed us the bones of an animal that had lived 150
000 years ago.
Glaciers worldwide 2009–2014 Melting glaciers are causing serious problems. In the mountainous
year areas of Peru, melted ice may soon cause floods in nearby towns and cities. At
lower levels, large urban areas on the coast of Peru may
0 suffer in other ways. “As the glaciers continue to shrink,” said
Carlos,
“the supply of fresh water coming down from the mountains will
–200 decrease, which is worrying in the
long term.”
–400
–600Engineers have investigated different ways of preserving Pastoruri. In
–800 one project, they covered a small section of the glacier with sawdust, a powdery material produced by
cutting wood. This idea came from
–1000
traditional methods used to prevent ice from melting. In another –1200 experiment, engineers painted
black rocks near the glacier white, –1400thinking that white would reflect sunlight and keep temperatures
low. –1600 These projects had limited success.
As we reached the lake at the foot of Pastoruri, Carlos pointed to a
stunningly beautiful ice cave in the glacier, which I felt I had to take photos of. “The lake water is warmer
than the glacier,” Carlos said. “This makes the lower part of the glacier melt faster. As a result, the lake is
getting bigger and it’s starting to flood the valleys below.” He believes that engineers will soon need to
drain the lake.
Minerals in rocks that appear when the glacier ice melts also cause a problem. They get washed down
into rivers and make the river water acidic. “Local farmers use river water on their land and it’s not good
for their crops,” Carlos explained. Biologists believe that one way to deal with this is to store the water in
wetland areas before it reaches the rivers. They encourage farmers to plant certain wetland grasses,
which help to clean the water by taking up acids from the water through their roots.
The environment continues to change, but local people are trying hard to adapt.
(a) What did the National Park managers first think caused the Pastoruri glacier to melt? [1]
(b) Why has Pastoruri melted faster than some other glaciers?
[1]
(c) What evidence is there that Pastoruri is not a real glacier anymore?
[1]
(d) According to the graph, in which two years between 2009 and 2014 did glaciers lose most
ice?
[1]
(e) Why will glaciers cause problems for cities next to the sea?
[1]
(f) What methods have engineers used to try to stop Pastoruri melting? Give two details. [2]
(g) What problems are caused by the lake at the bottom of Pastoruri? Give two details. [2]
(h) What happens to minerals found in rocks when the glacier melts?
Explanation:
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