Chilean glacier will vanish in 50 years: study

Agence France-Presse: Chile's official water authority warned Saturday that the Echaurren glacier near Santiago, which supplies the capital with 70 percent of its water needs, could disappear in the next half century. In a new report on Chile's glaciers the main water company -- Direccion General de Aguas de Chile (DGA) -- said the ice fields of Echaurren are receding up to 12 meters (39.37 feet) per year.

"These glaciers are vanishing," said Antonio Vergara of the DGA, who has worked on glacier research on the fields for 35 years. At the current rate of decline, Echaurren and other smaller glaciers near Santiago could disappear over the next 50 years. The river Maipo and its smaller tributaries, key water sources for Santiago, its environs and agriculture in region, all flow from Echaurren….