The Quelccaya Ice Cap (also known as the Quenamari Ice Cap) is the
second-largest glaciated area in the tropics, after Coropuna. Located in
the Cordillera Oriental in Peru's Andes, it covers an area of 42.8
square kilometres (16.5 sq mi) with ice up to 200 metres (660 ft)
thick. It is surrounded by tall ice cliffs and a number of outlet
glaciers, the largest of which is known as Qori Kalis Glacier. Quelccaya
is an important source of water, eventually nourishing the Inambari and
Vilcanota Rivers. It is regularly monitored and has a weather station.
Quelccaya was much larger in the past, merging with neighbouring
glaciers during the Pleistocene epoch. After reaching a secondary
highstand (area expansion) during the Little Ice Age, Quelccaya has been
shrinking due to human-caused climate change. Models predict that
without aggressive climate mitigation measures, Quelccaya is likely to
disappear during the 21st or 22nd century..
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_change_mitigation>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1927:
Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford became the first two
celebrities to imprint their handprints and footprints in cement
(Pickford's pictured) at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood,
California.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grauman%27s_Chinese_Theatre>
1982:
Sixteen monks and a nun belonging to Ananda Marga in Calcutta,
India, were dragged out of taxis by persons unknown in three different
locations, beaten to death and then set on fire.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bijon_Setu_massacre>
2004:
The New Yorker published an online article and photographs
detailing accounts of torture and abuse by American military personnel
of Iraqi prisoners held at Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Ghraib_torture_and_prisoner_abuse>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
desiccate:
1. (transitive) To remove moisture from; to dry.
2. (transitive) To preserve by drying.
3. (intransitive, rare) To become dry; to dry up.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/desiccate>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Keep your hands open, and all the sands of the desert can pass
through them. Close them, and all you can feel is a bit of grit.
--Taisen Deshimaru
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Taisen_Deshimaru>