Joris Thijssen, Climate Change Campaigner, talks about the importance of glaciers as source of fresh water for million of Peruvian people.
Thousands of people in the mountains of Peru are having their lives affected by climate change which is causing the region's glaciers to melt. In the last three decades, Peruvian Andes glaciers have lost almost a quarter of their area. During the dry season, river water comes exclusively from the glaciers, which melt naturally at that time of year. They then replenish themselves in the wet season. But this balance has been upset
the glaciers are melting faster than they can replenish themselves. As they thaw, dozens of new lakes spread all over the highland which could lead to devastating floods.