A Look at Climate-Caused Harms Unfolding in Peru’s Cordillera Blanca

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The world is moving too slowly in its efforts to confront climate change, and some communities are already experiencing serious losses because of limits to adaptation that leave bases uncovered.

Published by Springer Nature in July, a new study examines the negative consequences stemming from changes in the mountain cryosphere in Peru’s Cordillera Blanca. The study examines these changes within the framework of Loss and Damage (L&D), an international climate policy mechanism that promotes taking actions that prevent and address losses and damages associated with climate change.

The study, led by University of Zurich PhD student Alina Motschmann, focuses on three specific issues resulting from glacier retreat: ice loss, glacier hazards, and variability of water availability. The authors assert that choices made with regard to governance and adaptation will have a significant impact on how far-reaching climate-related harms that can’t be adapted to will be. They suggest that Loss and Damage policy should take on a more comprehensive approach that better reflects the physical and social processes that result in such destruction.

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