Video: climate change in the Andes with Captain Polo

In this video, Captain Polo visits the Ecuadorian Andes and learns all about the effects of climate change on glaciers, highland moors and water supplies.

An original resource for science teachers and presented by Alan J. Hesse, Captain Polo’s creator and author of the climate change graphic novel series ‘The Adventures of Captain Polo’, the video highlights the Antisana volcano, which has the biggest glacier in Ecuador and is over 5 times higher than Mount Snowdon, the highest mountain the Britain.

The video explains that although Ecuador only contributes about 0.1% of global greenhouse gas emissions causing global warming, yet it is still highly affected by climate change. According to recent research, the rate of warming in the Andes is nearly twice the global average. The main impact of global warming in the Andes is on water sources, which is why water management is one of the top climate change adaptation priorities in Ecuador.

One of the most obvious global warming effects on water in the Andes is **melting glaciers. **

Antisana holds the largest of Ecuador’s 7 glaciers. Glaciers in the Andes are all under threat from global warming. One of Ecuador’s glaciers has already lost 96% of its surface due to rapid, man-made global warming. Local scientists predict that in 5 years it could have melted completely.

Captain Polo was very keen to see the Antisana volcano for himself, because, as he finds out in his own adventures around the world, climate change truly is global, in the sense that what happens in one place will affect places even if they are on the other side of the planet.
For example, most GHG emissions are created in industrial areas that can be very far away from these mountains, yet they still have an effect here, as we can see with the shrinking glaciers. In some parts of the Andes, entire lakes have already dried up because of this.
Polo will want to know what the solutions are. It’s a good question, because there are always solutions.
In the Andes it’s really all about protecting those water sources. That basically means preserving natural ecosystems, such as forests and this high altitude moorland called paramo, because these are natural water regulators: when they are healthy and work properly, they make sure there is always the right amount of water.