The scientific secrets of a weather station on Quelccaya ice cap in Peru
- 9 years ago
The Quelccaya ice cap of Peru sits at an average altitude of 5,500 metres and is the largest piece of ice in the tropics, but it has been melting at an accelerating pace.
A team of researchers from the University of Massachusetts has been working at a satellite-linked weather station since 2003. They are documenting the impact of El Nino on the ice cap.
“El Nino is driven by Pacific Ocean sea surface temperatures, which we know are very closely correlated or related to temperatures throughout the Andes, through Bolivia up through Peru,” explained Douglas Hardy, Senior Research Fellow University of Massachusetts.
The world is currently being affected by an El Nino in the Pacific, which is expected to reach its peak by the end of 2015. The weather station operates at the summit of the ice cap measuring a range of temperatures, radiation, sapped and wind direction. There has not been an El Nino in the Andes since 1997 and the scientists don’t know what the impact could be on the ic
A team of researchers from the University of Massachusetts has been working at a satellite-linked weather station since 2003. They are documenting the impact of El Nino on the ice cap.
“El Nino is driven by Pacific Ocean sea surface temperatures, which we know are very closely correlated or related to temperatures throughout the Andes, through Bolivia up through Peru,” explained Douglas Hardy, Senior Research Fellow University of Massachusetts.
The world is currently being affected by an El Nino in the Pacific, which is expected to reach its peak by the end of 2015. The weather station operates at the summit of the ice cap measuring a range of temperatures, radiation, sapped and wind direction. There has not been an El Nino in the Andes since 1997 and the scientists don’t know what the impact could be on the ic