Chile has faced record-high temperatures and a prolonged drought in recent years, severely impacting the country’s agriculture sector and contributing to devastating wildfires in the central-southern regions last January. This environmental crisis has also accelerated the retreat and melting of glaciers in the Andes Mountains and Patagonia.
These pressing issues were the focus of a panel discussion featuring leading scientists from Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO). Park Williams and Mike Kaplan presented their research on the effects of climate change on Chile’s forests and glaciers, respectively. They were joined by Francisco Meza from Universidad Católica’s Centro de Cambio Global, providing a local perspective on these challenges.
The event was co-sponsored by the Center for Climate and Resilience (CR)2 and Universidad de Chile’s Center of Business Leaders Against Climate Change.
In addition to the panel, Park Williams traveled to Valparaíso to deliver a lecture at Universidad Católica de Valparaíso. Meanwhile, Mike Kaplan has been conducting fieldwork in Chile as a Fulbright Scholar, collaborating with Universidad de Magallanes in Punta Arenas and Universidad Católica to study current and historical glacier behavior.
To learn more about Mike Kaplan’s research, read his recent interview with Las Últimas Noticias here.
