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

_______________________________ 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

_____________________________ 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

___________________________ 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