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LIMA - Peru needs a permanent monitoring system to gauge Andeanmountain glacier shrinkage caused by global warming, and its effecton people who depend on the ice for water, UN experts warned. "We have spoken with Peruvian government institutions, and there isno sufficient monitoring system to tell us the current trend inglacier shrinkage, and its consequences," said Anil Mishra, aUNESCO specialist in hydrological systems. Mishra took part this week in a conference called "Impact ofGlacier Retreat in the Andes" with Thomas Shaaf, of Germany, wholeads the UNESCO biodiversity science department. It aimed todeliver policy recommendations to regional governments. "We are in Peru to work with scientists from the region, with theirspecialists, to identify and understand the process of glaciershrinkage," Mishra added. Experts say the monitoring system should include scientists,high-tech equipment and hydrologists to identify the degree of icemelting, the degree to which rivers fed by them are losing watersupplies; and which down-mountain areas will be affected by theloss of water supplies and how much. "In the Andes, runoff from glaciated basins is an important elementof the regional water budget, and is essential to the integrity ofmountain ecosystems," UNESCO said in a statement on the gatheringlast week. A 2009 World Bank report said that in the last 35 years, Peru'sglaciers have shrunk by 22 percent, leading to a 12 percent loss inthe amount of fresh water reaching the coast, home to most of thedesert country's citizens who depend on the water suppliesdownstream. And the local Glacier Science Office has reported that the glaciersin the Cordillera Blanca in northern Peru, the highest tropicalmountain chain in the world, have shrunk by 30 percent in the past40 years due to climate change. "The scientific community and governments have got to understandwhat the consequences will be for river systems when the glaciersno longer exist," Mishra warned. Shaaf added that with the passing years there is less snow fallingon the high mountains even as the ice is shrinking "and so lesswater is going into river systems, even if the population has notfelt it yet. Many scientists believe that with climate change, rain cycles willspeed up and rains will be heavier in tropical and already wetareas but that dry and semiarid areas will see less and lessprecipitation. Peru's population is almost 30 million. The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as China E14 Led Candle Lamp , Indoor Led Light Bulbs Manufacturer, and more. For more , please visit Indoor Led Light Bulbs today!
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