ChileEducation · Drought
In Chile, the Fundación Glaciares Chilenos, led by young scientists and volunteers, addresses drought and the decline of water reserves. To do this, they created the public platform Latitud Glaciar and promoted education and regulatory advocacy. Among their achievements, they georeferenced 210 glaciers, reached 4.5 million people with scientific dissemination, trained more than 400 students and influenced the legislative debate for the Glacier Protection Law.
In Chile, the Fundación Glaciares Chilenos, led by young scientists and volunteers, addresses drought and the decline of water reserves. To do this, they created the public platform Latitud Glaciar and promoted education and regulatory advocacy. Among their achievements, they georeferenced 210 glaciers, reached 4.5 million people with scientific dissemination, trained more than 400 students and influenced the legislative debate for the Glacier Protection Law.
Chile meets 7 of the 9 climate vulnerability criteria of the UNFCCC. The country faces a prolonged megadrought, heat waves and high-impact forest fires that affect from the Metropolitan Region to the far south, and increasing pressure on its water resources. The crisis accelerates the melting of glaciers (Chile concentrates 80% of those in South America), which reduces flows in key basins and increases the risk of glacial lake outburst floods (GLOF).
Provide accessible information on glacier retreat so that communities and decision makers have georeferenced and scientific data. It seeks to demonstrate the loss of frozen mass through photographic and satellite comparison, mobilizing citizens towards the conservation of the cryosphere and the protection of mountain ecosystems.
Development of an open web platform with interactive maps, georeferenced sheets of 210 glaciers and comparative satellite images. Carrying out educational programs in schools and universities, scientific dissemination campaigns on social networks (reaching millions) and public advocacy to promote the Glacier Protection Law project (Bulletin N°4,205-12).
Students, educators, researchers, decision makers and communities vulnerable to water scarcity throughout Chile, as well as citizens in general interested in environmental heritage.
Founded in 2017 by siblings Felipe and Constanza Espinosa, who were around 29 and 26 years old at the time, and supported by a mostly young volunteer team. Youth lead research, web design, dissemination on networks and school talks on the cryosphere and climate emergency.
Functional platform with 210 indexed glaciers and more than 200 historical images; reach of more than 4.5 million people with digital content (more than 1,600 publications); more than 400 students trained in school talks; and impact on the legislative discussion of the Glacier Protection Law project.
Fundación Glaciares Chilenos (contacto@glaciareschilenos.org). Website: https://www.glaciareschilenos.org/ ; Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/glaciareschilenos/
Mixed
Chile faces an accelerated retreat of its glaciers due to the general increase in temperatures and the megadrought. This accelerated loss compromises the supply of fresh water in dry seasons for human consumption and agriculture, also increasing the risk of glacial disasters in the Andean valleys.
Chile is discussing the draft Glacier Protection Law and has the Climate Change Framework Law. However, tensions persist between the conservation of the cryosphere and mining and industrial development projects in high mountains, making citizen oversight and accessible public information urgent.
Collaborative articulation between the Fundación Glaciares Chilenos, the scientific and academic community (glaciologists), public institutions (Ministry of the Environment), international organizations (ECLAC), civil society organizations, sponsoring brands and a broad national network of volunteers and mountain photographers.
Enabling factors include access to geographic and satellite information technologies, strong youth volunteerism, and growing citizen concern for water protection. Financing limitations to carry out field expeditions and maintain technological infrastructure are identified as conditioning factors, added to the pressures of extractive and industrial sectors on glacial areas.
Strengthening national scientific culture, democratization of environmental data, promotion of responsible high mountain tourism, promotion of school environmental education and technical support for the legal defense of water basins.
The methodology of georeferencing, photographic archiving and open dissemination can be replicated in other Andean countries that share the urgency of monitoring and protecting their cryosphere, such as Argentina, Peru or Bolivia, as long as there is access to satellite images, collaboration with glaciologists and a volunteer network.
It is supported by the structure of passionate volunteering, alliances with committed brands, a network of collaborating partners ('Comunidad Glaciar') and the constant collaborative updating of satellite and photographic data.
Glacier Latitude: https://www.glaciareschilenos.org/proyecto/ ; Who we are: https://www.glaciareschilenos.org/quienes-somos/ ; Education: https://www.glaciareschilenos.org/educacion/; Publications: https://www.glaciareschilenos.org/publicaciones/