Lake Disappears in Chile
Scientists blamed global warming for the disappearance of a glacial lake in remote southern Chile that faded away in two months, leaving just a crater behind. The disappearance of the lake in Bernardo O'Higgins National Park has park rangers and scientists puzzled. Scientists believe they arrived at preliminary conclusions that point to climate change as the leading culprit in the lake's disappearance.
The melting of nearby glaciers raised the lake's level to where the increased water pressure caused part of a glacier acting as a dam to form a crack. Water in the lake flowed out of the breach, into a nearby fjord and into the sea.
On one side of the Bernardo glacier one can see a large hole. This may be a sign that glaciers in the region are retreating and getting thinner. A similar phenomena has occurred in the southern Magallanes region in Patagonia. The advance and retreat of glaciers is part of the normal dynamics of the Patagonia, but climate change seems to be distorting the process.
July 9, 2007 1:18 PM | Category: Global Warming