Abstract
A first documented case study of a disappearing glacier in the snow capped volcano Cotacahi in Ecuador is presented with the studies belonging to the social sciences in relation to climate change and its impact on the population of the Equatorial Andes. With the use of multiple source methodology, including ethnographic analyzes, visual representations, repetitive photography, critical mapping by the local communities, longitudinal surveys, even archival research, as well as interviews to social actors and utilization of spatial data in a geographical information system (GIS). It is concluded that the documented disappearance of the glacier on the Cotacahi serves as an urgent call for action to the important dearth of social research related to global change from the ethnoecological perspective, with a cultural, local approach.
Highlights
Mountains as Earth’s BellwetherUnprecedented social and environmental impacts from rapidly melting ice in the Andes, Himalaya, and Alps tragically provide an early glimpse of what might be in store in the near future for Earth’s densely populated lowlands
As our team began to study climate change in Cotacachi, we discovered that the Andean and world literature on how mountain glacier retreat impacts society was virtually nonexistent (RHOADES et al, 2006; RHOADES et al, 2008)
While climate change/variability was identified by indigenous people in various surveys we conducted in Cotacachi as the primary factor in the change of agricultural practices and availability of water, our research revealed a great deal of ambivalence and uncertainty about what the loss of the glacier means in their lives
Summary
Unprecedented social and environmental impacts from rapidly melting ice in the Andes, Himalaya, and Alps tragically provide an early glimpse of what might be in store in the near future for Earth’s densely populated lowlands. In this regard, mountain environments offer a unique laboratory for understanding the impacts of climate change and variability on human societies wherever they are located. I contrasted these adaptations to Western flatland conceptions of land use and demonstrated why an external lowland mentality is often the basis of failed projects Through these and other locally anchored studies, I have contributed to a paradigm shift in development thinking which today respects indigenous knowledge and encourages community-based participation. What happens when completely unknown environmental events confront a local people’s longstanding knowledge?
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