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EOS, TRANSACTIONS AMERICAN GEOPHYSICAL UNION, VOL. 88, NO. 25, doi:10.1029/2007EO250001, 2007

Economic Impacts of Rapid Glacier Retreat in the Andes

Walter Vergara

World Bank, Washington, D.C., USA


Alejandro M. Deeb

World Bank, Washington, D.C., USA


Adriana M. Valencia

World Bank, Washington, D.C., USA


Raymond S. Bradley

Department of Geosciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA


Bernard Francou

Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Quito, Ecuador


Alonso Zarzar

World Bank, Washington, D.C., USA


Alfred Grünwaldt

World Bank, Washington, D.C., USA


Seraphine M. Haeussling

World Bank, Washington, D.C., USA


Abstract

In the Andes, runoff from glacierized basins is an important element of water budgets, assuring year-round flows for agriculture, potable water, power generation, and ecosystem integrity. Thus, changes induced by tropical glacier retreat constitute an early case of the need for adaptation and the type and size of associated economic and social impacts caused by climate change.

Published 19 June 2007.

Index Terms: 1605 Global Change: Abrupt/rapid climate change (4901, 8408); 1884 Hydrology: Water supply.

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Citation: Vergara, W., A. M. Deeb, A. M. Valencia, R. S. Bradley, B. Francou, A. Zarzar, A. Grünwaldt, and S. M. Haeussling (2007), Economic Impacts of Rapid Glacier Retreat in the Andes, Eos Trans. AGU, 88(25), doi:10.1029/2007EO250001.