Scientists in Bolivia say that one of the Andean countrys most famous glaciers has almost disappeared as a result of climate change, BBC online reports Tuesday.
The Chacaltaya glacier, 5.300 meters up in the Andes, used to be the worlds highest ski run. But it has been reduced to just a few small pieces of ice.
Many Bolivians on the highland plains, and in two cities, depend on the melting of the glaciers for their water supply during the dry season. The team of Bolivian scientists started measuring the Chacaltaya glacier in the 1990s. Not long ago they were predicting that it would survive until 2015.
But photos taken in the last two weeks show that all that is left of the majestic glacier, which is thought to be 18.000 years old, are a few lumps of ice near the top.
