This story by Heather Somerville in the Washington Post explained how glacial melt in the Andes is becoming a threat to the lifestyle and economic welfare of the people living there. According to the story, Peru could become a “case study” on the extent of the destruction that global climate change can cause in a community. The glaciers provide water, irrigation and electricity for the surrounding villages, and rapid melt could not only displace people in the surrounding region but could have effects spanning the globe. According to experts, Peru will need to implement new techniques for collecting excess runoff and diverting the heavier flow of water.
The story paints a representative picture of the potential chain of destruction that rapid glacial melt could have not only on Peru, but also on the surrounding regions, including the United States. To the best of my understanding, the glaciers in the Andes are melting much faster than scientists have anticipated, and there is a new urgency to develop a plan to prevent the excess water from causing permanent and widespread social and economic damage. I thought it was effective that Somerville specifically pointed out the United States. as a potential victim of such destruction, because doing so drove home the idea that climate change is a global concern and its effects are not restricted to a select few places.
I always find stories on climate change and global warming intriguing, because everyone has a different take on the issue and different ideas about who is responsible, how to address the problem, and if it’s even a problem at all or simply nature continuing on its course. Generally, I think most people will agree that whether climate change is human-caused or not, warming and cooling patterns are becoming evident across the globe and causing changes in our immediate environment that threaten to change our way of life.
Somerville doesn’t take an angle on climate change in her story, which I liked because as a reader I wasn’t distracted from the main story by a larger, more elusive topic. Yet, after reading the story I couldn’t help but consider the issue of climate change. Glacial melt in Peru is a prime example of the irreversible change occurring in nature that is happening all over the world and will eventually force us to change the way we live — how we consume resources, where we build our homes, how we prosper economically – in order to adapt to these new conditions.
Somerville’s story didn’t contain a lot of data or numbers in order to show how Peru will be affected by glacial melt, but rather appealed to our emotions to put us on the same level as the citizens of Peru and make us realize that the crisis is taking place in the Andes, but presents a problem for us all.
