Mt Aconcagua in the Andes range. (File pic) Photo: 123RF
An international team of scientists - including one based in New Zealand - has found climate change is already a crisis unfolding in South America's Andes mountains.
Their research showed global warming was noticeably impacting the world's longest mountain range - with the eastern side getting less rain than before.
The Andes cross seven South American nations: Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela.
One of the six scientists working on the ongoing study was hydrologist Dr Ana Ochoa-Sánchez from Ecuador's University of Azuay.
She said the research found human-induced climate change was warming all of the Andes.
"One of the most significant impacts is that climate change is likely causing less precipitation on the eastern side of the mountain range," Ochoa-Sánchez said.
A view of the Andes from Chile. (File pic) Photo: 123RF
Dr Dáithí Stone, from New Zealand's National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA), was another scientist working on the study.
He said mountain regions were predicted to be the most vulnerable to climate change.
Climate trends in the Andes were causing the rapid shrinking of glaciers and less snow and less water flowing down to other ecosystems, Stone said.
"This in turn, in multiple countries, affects food production, industry, health, culture and societies."
The study was continuing and would help improve understanding of the current and future impacts of climate change and the effectiveness of adaptation, Stone said.
It advocated for localised adaptation strategies, informed by scientific research and indigenous knowledge, Ochoa-Sánchez said.
"The findings highlight that climate change is not a distant threat but a current crisis already unfolding across one of the world's most celebrated mountain landscapes," she said.
"The research also stresses the need for global climate policies to reduce emissions and increase adaptation."
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