Save Ecuador's Glaciers, Rivers and the Amazon

Written by Germanico Vaca

Global warming is having some of the most catastrophic effects right on the Equator. The alarming disappearance of Lake Chad in Africa was ignored by the world, and now the World is ignoring the melting of Ecuador's cherished mountain glaciers. Although scientists have pointed out to the possibility that global warming could cause several of them to disappear over the next two decades they have failed to see the correlation to the mighty Amazon River and the Amazon jungle, which will lose a massive amount of its volume with the most devastating consequences for the world climate, because this are the lungs of the planet.

Incredibly scientists are ignoring the facts that it is those mountains in Ecuador that feed the biggest volume of water to the Amazon. It is the glaciers of Ecuador: Cayambe, Chimborazo, Cotopaxi, Altar, Antisana, Sangay, Illinizas among others that give birth to the rivers Napo, Pastaza, Aguarico, Santiago, Morona, Machinaza etc. It is those billions of gallons per minute that flow from the Ecuadorian mountains that help create the mighty Amazon River and help sustain the Amazon region. The consequences to the world if this region is destroyed could be devastating. Changes in world temperature, thousands of species in the Amazon River could disappear. We must ask ourselves how many hundreds of birds, plants and dozens of Indian tribes must disappear for us to act.

I find it absurd that although scientists have concluded that 80 percent of Andean ice caps are likely to melt away in the next 15 years due to climate change. They have not seen the correlation between the rivers and the glaciers and the effects on agriculture, water supply, irrigation, and the destruction to the way of life of the entire planet. The glacier's demise means less water and it will not affect the lives of only 30,000 indigenous people or 13 million Ecuadorians. It will destroy the entire Amazon jungle. It will change weather patterns, the Planet will lose its lungs to process carbon monoxide and the contamination to the planet will change life as we know it.

Several mountains in Ecuador have already lost its glaciers: Imbabura, Cotacachi, Pichincha etc and their effects are already been felt in temperature changes to the cities in the Provinces of Imbabura and Pichincha.

The country's cone-shaped Cotopaxi volcano, towering at 19,347 feet, lost 31 percent of its ice cover from 1976 to 1997, according to a study by Ecuador's Meteorology Institute and France's scientific research institute IRD. The same study reveals that all snow picked mountains in Ecuador are affected.

To understand the reasons for this devastating situation we must study the Physics affecting our planet Earth composed of liquid lava at the core, and over 75% of water, and as a liquid body traveling at over one thousand miles per hour the spinning action of such rotation causes a bulge at the center or its equator. Therefore, Earth is not a perfect sphere. It’s an “oblate spheroid,”. The bulge in the ocean level alone is 13 miles higher than the north or south pole. This means that if you visit Ecuador you are 13 miles closer to the sun, the stars, to the moon and the outer space than someone at the North or South pole, even if you visit simply the beaches of Ecuador. If you are in the mountains such as Chimborazo at 20,560 feet above sea level you will actually be 1.5 miles closer to outer space than Everest. Being closer to the sun is causing the fastest melting of the glaciers than ever recorded in history.

If Ecuador is facing the real possibility of losing their glaciers over the next 10 to 20 years, then the entire planet faces devastating effects to its weather. It’s not only the end of Ecuador's Avenue of the Volcanoes, a striking strip of ice-capped mountains that is a favorite among tourists to the Andean nation that will be affected or loss. It means the death of the lungs of the planet. It means the demise of the Amazon and along with it of our Planet.

It is my goal to bring to the attention of the world this horrible crisis. I am working in creating a documentary. I am also asking people to study and share these facts with scientist, the media and anyone who cares about protecting our planet.