Glacier update: Andean glaciers melting faster due to climate change

new study blames climate change for the retreat of glaciers in the Andes. Glaciers in the region are losing ice faster than at any time in the last 300 years. Some smaller glaciers are at risk of disappearing altogether, the research concludes. So are glaciers reaching a critical situation? We look at the new research in context. The Andes in South America are home to 99 per cent of the world's tropical glaciers - those located high up in mountain ranges around the equator. The new study, published today in journal The Cryosphere, monitored about half of all Andean glaciers across Colombia, Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador to see how the volume of ice they contain has changed since the 1970s. The scientists used field measurments and satellite data to survey an area of almost a thousand square kilometres, making the new study the most comprehensive review of Andean glaciers so far. Read more: http://www.carbonbrief.org/blog/2013/01/andean-glaciers-melting-faster