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The authorities in Chile have expressed the plan to end coal-fired thermoelectric
plants before 2050, to achieve carbon neutrality, undoubtedly helped by the
forests with which our country has been blessed, which allow us to absorb the
order of 57% of current emissions.
The climate, however, does not respond instantly to a reduction in greenhouse
gas emissions; instead, there is a delay of several decades and even more than a
century until the climate can adjust to the new equilibrium conditions. With the
emissions accumulated so far, we have already committed to future warming
with
severe
associated
impacts.
Only
rigorous
compliance
with
global
agreements will be able to reverse the trend of increased global warming starting
during the second half of this century, and hopefully, at least a partial
preservation of the snow and glaciers as we know them today.
References
Ayala, A. et al. 2020. Glacier runoff variations since 1955 in the Maipo River
Basin, semiarid Andes of central Chile. The Cryosphere 14, 2005– 2027.
doi: 10.5194/tc-14-2005-2020.
Barría, I. et al. 2019. Simulation of long-term changes of the Equilibrium Line
Altitude
in
the
Central
Chilean
Andes
mountains
derived
from
atmospheric
variables
during
the
1958–2018
period.
Frontiers
Environmental Sciences 7:161. doi: 10.3389/ fenvs.2019.00161.
Carrasco, J. F. et al. 2005. Changes of the 0C isotherm and the equilibrium line
altitude in central Chile during the last quarter of the 20th century. Hydrol.
Sci. J. 50, 933–948. doi: 10.1623/hysj.2005. 50.6.933.
Cordero, R.R. et al. 2019. Dry-season snow cover losses in the Andes (18°–
40°S) driven by changes in large-scale climate modes. Sci. Rep. 9, 16945.
https:// doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019- 53486-7.
Espinoza, A. 2018. Influencia de las impurezas en la ablación del glaciar Del
Rincón (Región Metropolitana, Chile). Memoria para optar al título de
Geólogo, Universidad Católica del Norte, 75 p.
Farías-Barahona, D. 2015. The increase of debris covers of glaciers in the
eastern side of the Northern Patagonia Icefield in the last 70 years.
Abstract, Session C03 Glacier Monitoring from In Situ and Remotely
Sensed Observations, IACS.