Chile: Hanging glacier falls victim to global warming

High temperatures and rainfall have calved a glacier in Chile’s Queulat National Park. A video taken a few days ago with a mobile phone shows the moment when the 200 meter high glacier breaks off. It has been unusually hot in the Patagonia region this year. Raul Codero is a climate change expert at the University of Santiago de Chile: “One of the consequences of global warming is the destabilization of many glaciers and in particular some unstable glacial walls. For example, if we register episodes of high temperatures or rainfall, these glacial walls can collapse. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened in Patagonia in the last few days. It’s comparable to what happened in the Himalayas and Alps a few months ago.” Queulat National Park is located in the southern Chilean region of Aysén. Its main attractions include forested areas and its glaciers.