A Qualitative Assessment of Contemporary Glacier Loss in the Cordillera Blanca, Peru, Using Repeat Photography
Conclusion
Nine sets of photo comparisons of glaciers from the 1930s to 2009 illustrate the profound changes in ice cover and glacial lake formation that have occurred in the Cordillera Blanca during the past 80 years. Because of the continuation of warming trends, continued and perhaps accelerated glacial recession can be expected to occur, accompanied by an increased risk in associated glacierrelated hazards. As the accuracy and utility of remote sensing and other laboratory-based technologies continue to grow, repeat oblique photographs can still provide complementary tools because of their ability to extend the historic record further back into the past, proven use as educational tools, encouragement of interaction with local communities, and promotion of a spirit of exploration, discovery, and development of interdisciplinary field skills. Repeat photography will most likely remain a valuable qualitative tool and complement to remote sensing and other forms of laboratory- and field-based research in the decades to come, as the oblique photographic database increases and new generations of physical and social scientists take to the field in pursuit of answers and enhanced understandings of the high mountain world.
Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank Mr. Martin Achrainer, Österreichischer Alpenverein, Historisches Archiv, Innsbruck for permission to use the Erwin Schneider and Kinzl photographs in this essay. Ms. Hanna Schneider is warmly thanked for providing information about the various photographic archives, and their whereabouts, of her late father. The Mountain Institute, Washington, D. C., and Instituto de Montaña, Huaraz and Lima, Peru, are thanked for their interest in and support of the author’ s work throughout the years.
References
[ Note: A more detailed repeat photography bibliography related to the Cordillera Blanca can be found in Byers( 1999, 2000).]
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