Members of the glaciology unit of Peru’s national water authority walk on the Pastoruri glacier in Huaraz, Peru, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2014. The glaciology unit is studying the measurement of ice thickness. According to Alejo Cochachin, coordinator of the glaciology unit, the Pastoruri glacier retreated 576 meters between 1980 and 2014.

Peru’s glaciers have lost more one-fifth of their mass in just three decades, and the 70 percent Peru’s 30 million people who inhabit the country’s Pacific coastal desert, depend on glacial runoff for hydropower and to irrigate crops, meaning their electricity and long-term food security could also be in peril.

Higher alpine temperatures are killing off plant and animal species in cloud forests and scientists predict Pacific fisheries will suffer.

(AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)