Map Of World When Ice Melts

[Ferdinando Addison]

Wetraveled to Cusco (altitude 11,152 feet) a week before the hike to acclimate. Global warming and climate change were not on my mind for that first week. Catching my breath was! On day five in Cusco, I could climb the stairs built into the hillsides throughout the city, with only a few stops. By day seven, I was ready to hike the Salkantay trail.

The trailhead is a three-hour drive from Cusco. There was a traffic stop along the way for a large highway project where they were fixing damage from a landslide. I did not know it then, but damaged roads and trails were to become a common theme over the next week. Another common occurrence would be bridges that were either washed away or submerged.

Days three and six are the most strenuous days of the six-day hike. The hike on day 3 is over nine miles long over Salkantay Pass at an elevation of 15,190 feet. Between the distance and the slow hiking speed (the elevation really slows you down if you are not used to that altitude), there is a lot of time to think.

I realized that there was water running down the mountain everywhere we had hiked over the first three days. It was running down the mountain in streams and rivers and making swampy areas in fields. Both times we hiked on the shoulder of the rainy season, so water was to be expected, and I understand that the weather for two years will not be the same. As I made observations, it felt like more than just differences in the weather.

Just after we reached the top, there was a landslide accompanied by an avalanche. We had been hearing what sounded kind of like thunder, but kind of not too, off and on for about thirty minutes, when the large slide took place. We could see snow spraying up along with the rockslide. It is awe-inspiring and scary to be that near to. There was so much rock and snow, and it was loud when it slid. It also went on for several minutes.

As the slide occurred, I started connecting the changes we observed to the effects of global warming and climate change. Glaciers erode mountains. Glaciers contain huge boulders. Intact glaciers function like cement. When they melt, the rocks and sediments they contain are released causing landslides.

As we descended on the other side of the pass, we saw the evidence of a slide that happened on February 23, 2020. This was the second large landslide caused by glacier collapse to happen in the area that month. On February 23, a glacier carrying the rocks contained within it collapsed into a lake. This displaced a huge amount of water. The water and debris from the glaciers triggered an enormous debris flow causing mudslides and flooding miles and miles away. People were swept away and killed, buildings were destroyed, the course of rivers were changed, and bridges washed away.

Huge boulders were strewn across an area where we picnicked eleven years before. There would be no picnicking now. In 2020, the slide happened when people had been picnicking in the same spot. They were killed during the landslide. Our guide kept us together and got us through this area.

If you were asked to list five countries with glaciers in them, Peru would probably not make the list. It sits just below the equator, after all. That ignores that one quarter of Peru is mountainous. Glaciers do not just form at and near the Poles at high latitudes. They also form at high altitudes like those found in the Andes Mountain range.

People who study the effects of global warming have been documenting the loss of glaciers for many years. This link takes you to a video explaining about glacier loss in the Bolivian Andes. The video is ten years old, and states that there had been a 43% loss by area of glaciers. In November 2023, the National Institute of Research on Mountain Glaciers and Ecosystems announced that Peru has seen a 56% decrease in its glacier area over sixty years. The loss has accelerated over more recent decades as Earth has gotten warmer.

Days four and five took us through a cloud forest. I had to wonder what will happen to this ecosystem when the glaciers melt. Every river was flowing hard. Many were brown with sediments and nutrients. We saw several bridges that were washed away or submerged. In rivers, streams, and across flat areas, there was water everywhere!

If we take the Glaciers of Peru as a symbol for climate change, it is a compelling one for why we should all commit to teaching our children the science explaining the related topics of the greenhouse effect, global warming, and climate change. Because even if we cannot stop it, we are going to have to deal with the fallout, and understanding the science helps us identify the fallout areas before they reach emergency levels. Understanding where we are headed and why allows us to implement preventative measures to mitigate the impact of climate change, protecting communities and ecosystems from the worst consequences.

The world is melting. This is going to have a profound impact, not just on areas where there are tropical glaciers, but everywhere, including where you live. We need to arm our children with the knowledge that will help them negotiate and understand the changing world.

We use a proprietary blend of graphene particles of various sizes, produced by one of the world's best graphene manufacturers located in the UK. Countless R&D hours and tests on our one-of-a-kind testing machine, allowed us to find the best blend and amount to achieve the lowest possible friction. Simply throwing in "some graphene" to a wax blend, would result in average performance.

Unlike other Hot Melt waxes, GRAPHENwax V2 not only exhibits the lowest friction but also lasts longer and is much easier to use. Our wax flakes less than paraffin during the chain movement, meaning you have more wax that protects the drivetrain for longer. It can also withstand those hot days when other wax lubricants simply melt off your chain. GRAPHENwax will not stain your fingers when handling the chain and it's the quietest wax coating you will use.

While these substances can exhibit super low friction, they do it only in vacuum or inert gas. In normal humid air they not only have high friction but also a very short life because of the rapid oxidation process.

*It is much easier to brake-in the chain.

*It's the most quiet hot melt wax you will ever use.

*It flakes less than paraffin, meaning you have more wax that protects the drivetrain for longer.

*It's quiet for a long time because it sticks better to the side of link plates enhancing the shifting performance

*Lasts longer thanks to wax flexibility and Graphene additive

*Delivers incredibly low friction for much longer than any other wax.

*Doesn't melt off your chain on a hot day.

Each chain treatment uses only 3-4g (0.14oz) of wax if you let it drip back into the crockpot while it dries. We actually weighed it. If you clean your chain with boiling water (see video below), let it dry and then wax, you could get around 62 treatments and still have 100g (3.5oz) left in the pot to guarantee full immersion of the chain. It's only a matter of how much you contaminate the wax or how well you clean the chain with boiling water prior to every waxing. Wax will still last the same number of applications regardless of cleaning, but if you contaminate the wax too much, it will no longer be as effective.

FIRST CHAIN PREPARATION: Take the chain off the bike or use a brand new chain and clean it using a solvent (like White Spirit or mineral turps) by immersing the chain completely in the solvent for 20-60min using the poly bag that was delivered with the wax (Use gloves). Shake the bag with chain for 2min at the end. Take the chain out and let it fully dry (10-12h - super important). Optionally you can rinse the chain at this point with 98% alcohol to remove any remaining residue. Once the chain is fully dry (10-12h) you can apply the wax normally as instructed below. Solvent cleaning is only needed for the first time to remove the oils.

1. After that , If the chain is dirty, you can clean it by simply pouring hot water on the chain and letting it dry Cleaning the chain this way doesn't contaminate the wax in crockpot, making it useful for longer.

3. Fully immerse the chain into the molten wax and wait until the wax buildup on the chain melts again (min 10-15min - IMPORTANT!). The best way to do this is to use a wire metal clothes hanger by threading both ends of the chain on the hanger.

4. Agitate the chain gently (up, down, left right) in the liquid wax (using the coat hanger) for about 3-5min to make sure that the wax goes into the pins. Links need bending movement in order for the wax to get in.

* Chain squeaks only after a few hours of dry riding. - It means there is wax starvation caused by improper waxing. Make sure the wax temperature is correct (this is Crucial), make sure to wait a minimum of 10-15min after immersing the chain in the wax before agitating because the chain needs to heat up to the same temperature - you cannot rush it. Inserting a cold chain into hot wax dramatically decreases wax temperature. So you need to let it heat up again. Agitate the chain for 3-5min in a way to bend as many chain links as possible.

* Wax flakes off on my turbo-trainer sessions. - It means you didn't wipe the chain after hanging it to dry. Make sure the waxing temperature is right (it's crucial). After swishing, hang the chain and wipe it with a paper towel/cloth on the outside plates then let it cool. Once cooled run it through your gloved hand to break the links.

Please remember that melted wax is very hot, so you should always wear appropriate protective clothing, leather gloves and safety glasses. Never leave the working crockpot unattended. After use, turn the crockpot off and make sure the still hot melted wax is not reachable by children or other unauthorized people. Use only a crockpot (slow cooker) to melt the wax. Never use oven, microwave or stove. Never exceed the temperature of 100C (212F). Never expose to open flame. Keep away from children. Use in a well-ventilated space.

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