IMPACT OF ENSO IN THE RETREAT OF ECUADORIAN GLACIERSBy: Matías Miranda, Juan Martin Andrade, Sara de la Puente

INTRODUCTION:Did you know, the Ecuadorian glaciers lost 22% in the past 48 years?

Background

information

ENSO:• ENSO stands for, El Niño Southern

Oscillation. Two types of changes are El Niño and La Niña.

• EL Niño causes the easterly trade winds move warm water against the western part of the Pacific and occurs typically every three to seven years.

• La Niña causes the water to become colder and land to become dry.

• To prevent a major disasters caused by ENSO, people should not built near the ocean because they will be damaged.

Glacier Retreat:

• Glacier 15 is located in the Antisana volcano

between a height of 4820 meters above sea level

• The glacier retreated 4.56 meters each year

between the years 1956 to 1996

• The decrease of the glacier’s mass is related to

ENSO

• In 48 years, 22% of glacier 15 has been lost

• If this continuous there will be no more glaciers

which means there is not a water supply for living

things

Our LabResearch Question:Does ENSO affect the retreat of the Ecuadorian glaciers?Explanation:For this lab we collected data from temperatures of Galapagos islands and later we created a excel worksheet to present the change in temperature during seven months.Steps:Central 2• We took temperatures for 7 consecutive months

from central 2 region islands.• Later we found the average of those

temperatures.• Using the average temps. we created a table and

a scatter plot• At last we calculated the slope and y-intercept of

this linear relationshipSouthern• We used the data for past 5 years of the Southern

region • Then, we created a scatter plot and found the

equation of that data of 5 years• We got data for Antisana glacier 15 retreat (2000-

2004)• Finally, we made a scatter plot and equation

Tableand

Graph

Average Sea Surface Temperatures Of the Galapagos Central 2

2014-2015

Month# of

MonthAvg. temp

September

1 21.94

October 2 21.19Novembe

r3 22.57

December

4 23.39

January 5 23.66February 6 24.46

March 7 26.87

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 820.00

21.00

22.00

23.00

24.00

25.00

26.00

27.00

f(x) = 0.800357142857147 x + 20.2390476190476

Average Sea Surface Temperatures Of the Galapagos Central 2 2014-

2015

Avg temp Linear (Avg temp)

Month (starting September 2014)

Avg

Tem

p (

c°)

Calculations

To find the equation of the linear relationship for the average sea surface temperatures, we had to first find the slope. Then we plugged in the equation the slope to find the y-intercept. This let us find the proper equation.

SouthernGalapagos

TempsAverage Sea Surface Temperature (SST) for the Galápagos Southern

Islands 2010-2014

Year # of Year Avg Temp (C°)

2010 0 21,5

2011 1 22,76

2012 2 23,17

2013 3 22,71

2014 4 23,89

0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 520

20.5

21

21.5

22

22.5

23

23.5

24

24.5

f(x) = 0.473 x + 21.86

Average Sea Surface Temperature (SST) for the Galápagos Southern Islands

2010-2014

Year (starting with 2010)

Ave

rage S

ST(C

°)

Table and Graph

Glacier 15

Antisana's Glacier 15 Retreat

Year # of Year Area (m2)

2000 0 365464

2001 1 346139

2002 2 322614

2003 3 308616

2004 4 3002070 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5

0

50000

100000

150000

200000

250000

300000

350000

400000

f(x) = − 16803.7 x + 362215.4

Antisana's Glacier 15 Retreat

Year (starting with 2000)

Are

a(m

2)

CONCLUSION:• The slope of the linear relationship is positive because it

increases

• ENSO is affecting the sea surface and it also affects the retreat of the country’s glaciers

• The glaciers are alarmingly decreasing their mass and retreating, this could cause several problems to animals, plants, and humans

• We think more people should be aware of the retreat of the glaciers and help prevent it by not polluting the environment

Sources:

• Climate change and tropical Andean glaciers: Past, present and future. (n.d.). Retrieved April 15, 2015, from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012825208000408

• Module 3, Investigation 1: Briefing 1 What are the effects of ENSO? (n.d.). Retrieved April 15, 2015, from http://cmmoodleuio.cloudapp.net/pluginfile.php?file=/17904/mod_assign/intro/climatechange-9-12.pdf