Mat McDermott

Bolivia’s Chacaltaya glacier, at an elevation of 17,400 ft home to the world’s highest ski area, has succumbed to rising temperatures and has melted away. All that remains of the 18,000 year old glacier are a few small pieces of ice.
If all that were at stake were losing an oddball ski area, that’d be one thing. But the faster thawing of the glaciers in the region have some dire implications for water supply and electricity generation.
According to the World Bank, some 80 million people in the Andes are dependent on glaciers for water.
The melting glaciers also have implications for energy usage in the region: Bolivia, Ecador and Peru all get about 50% of their electricity from hydropower, for which annual glacial runoff is an important component.