Action research on 6108m Cerro Marmolejo for Geographical
If you wear a white t-shirt in the sun it will keep you nice and cool compared to a black one, right?
If you take a nice white glacier and then sprinkle dark microscopic air pollution particles on it – the same principle applies. Except, instead of sweaty armpits, you get failed hydro projects, crop failures and depleted water supplies for communities downstream.
In collaboration with the Climate Science and Resilience Centre in Chile CR(2), I led a two man British expedition last December to the southern-most 6000m peak on the planet, returning with a rucksack full of snow.
The results would play a small part in helping show just how quickly we are not only killing ourselves with air pollution in Santiago, Chile – but the speed at which we are destroying our glaciers and threatening our future water supply.
Click below, and zoom in to read the story in full
RGS Geographical magazine, To Kill A Glacier
