Higher temperatures and rainfall that weaken ice walls caused part of a hanging glacier to break off at a national park in Chile's Patagonia region in an event captured on video by tourists. In a video that went viral Monday, a glacier that sits atop a mountain about 200 meters (656 feet) high rumbled and broke off at Queulat National Park, located more than 1,200 kilometers (746 miles) south of Chile's capital. Detachments between masses of ice are normal, says University of Santiago climate scientist Raul Cordero, but he noted that the frequency of these events is troubling. "Because this type of event is triggered by heat waves or by intense liquid precipitation events and both things are also happening more and more frequently throughout the planet, not only in Chile," Corder...
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travel articles and news about Chile
In a sparse, windswept pasture at the frigid tip of South America lives a tiny bird whose quiet life is shedding light on the importance of studying the world's most remote places. In the Diego Ramirez Islands, 100 kilometers (62 miles) from southern Chile's Cape Horn, scientists have identified the Subantarctic rayadito, a 0.035 pound (16 gram) brown bird with black and yellow bands, and a large beak that is confounding biologists. That's because the Subantarctic rayadito, which resembles a rayadito species that inhabits the forests of southern Patagonia and nests in trunk cavities, was found "living in a place with no trees." A newly identified bird, named 'Rayadito Subantartico' (Aphrastura subantarctica), is seen at Gonzalo island, Cabo de Hornos area, Magallanes region, Chil...
Read MoreThe arid plains of northern Chile are likely to once again be painted a rainbow of colors with blooming flowers after this year's winter rains set the stage for the so-called flowering desert in the Atacama Desert. The Atacama bloom attracts large numbers of local and foreign tourists and happens after heavy rains in the southern hemisphere's winter. In June, some areas received more than 80 millimeters (3.15 inches) of water, a significant amount for the normally arid desert, said biologist Roberto Contreras. FILE PHOTO: A view of the Atacama desert partially covered with flowers during 'Desierto Florido' (Bloomed desert), a natural phenomenon that fill with flowers and plants the driest desert in the world and takes place during spring, near Copiapo, Chile, October 13, 2021. RE...
Read MoreA sinkhole in Chile has doubled in size, growing large enough to engulf France's Arc de Triomphe and prompting officials to order work to stop at a nearby copper mine. The sinkhole, which emerged on July 30, now stretches 50 meters (160 feet) across and goes down 200 meters (656 feet). Seattle's Space Needle would also comfortably fit in the black pit, as would six Christ the Redeemer statues from Brazil stacked head-to-head, giant arms outstretched. The National Service of Geology and Mining said late on Saturday it is still investigating the gaping hole near the Alcaparrosa mine operated by Canadian company Lundin Mining, about 665 km (413 miles) north of Santiago. A sinkhole that was exposed last week has doubled in size, at a mining zone close to Tierra Amarilla town, in Copi...
Read MoreChile's Easter Island received its first group of tourists on Thursday after closing its borders for more than two years due to the coronavirus pandemic. Easter Island, over 2,000 miles (3,219 km) from the coast of Chile, has over a thousand stone statues -- giant heads that were carved centuries ago by the island's inhabitants -- which have brought it fame and UNESCO World Heritage Site status. FILE PHOTO: A tourist looks at a statue named "Moai" at Easter Island, Chile February 13, 2019. Picture taken February 13, 2019. REUTERS/Marion Giraldo "(Easter Island) is the biggest open air museum in the world," said Pedro Edmunds, the mayor of Easter Island, adding that it was time to open the island after it shut its borders 868 days ago. "We've learned what the pandemic is about ...
Read MoreChilean authorities started investigating on Monday a mysterious sinkhole about 25 meters (82 feet) in diameter that appeared over the weekend in a mining area in the north of the country. Chilean media showed aerial images of the sinkhole on land operated by a Canadian Lundin Mining copper mine, about 665 kilometers (413 miles) north of capital Santiago. The National Service of Geology and Mining (Sernageomin) became aware of the sinkhole on Saturday and has sent specialist personnel to the area, the agency's director David Montenegro said in a statement. "There is a considerable distance, approximately 200 meters (656 feet), to the bottom," Montenegro said. "We haven't detected any material down there, but we have seen the presence of a lot of water." Sernageomin reporte...
Read MoreWhile strolling along Los Tubos beach on the central Chilean coast, a group of neighbors found strange remains which turned out to be fossils of an ancient marine reptile that lived in the surrounding sea millions of years ago. Several fossils belonging to the long-necked sea creature from the Upper Cretaceous period, known as Elasmosaurus, were found by Andrea Galvez and other residents of the town of Algarrobo, some 95 kms (60 miles) east of Santiago, the country's capital. Local Andrea Galvez shows a vertebra fossil from an Elasmosaurus, which was found on a beach, in Algarrobo, Chile, June 16, 2022. REUTERS/Rodrigo Gutierrez Galvez, a physical education teacher, said she usually collects plastic she finds along the beach, but noticed something strange one day after getting of...
Read MoreLocals beg God for water, sounding climate change alarm The Penuelas reservoir in central Chile was until twenty years ago the main source of water for the city of Valparaiso, holding enough water for 38,000 Olympic-size swimming pools. Water for only two pools now remains. A huge expanse of dried and cracked earth that was once the lake bed is littered with fish skeletons and desperate animals searching for water. A general view of the former Penuelas lake in Valparaiso, Chile April 19, 2022. A huge expanse of dried and cracked earth that was once the lake bed is littered with fish skeletons and desperate animals searching for water. Picture taken with drone. REUTERS/Ivan Alvarado Amid an historic 13-year drought, rainfall levels have slumped in this South American nation tha...
Read MoreForest in Southern Chile could be home to world's oldest tree A lush green forest in southern Chile might be home to the world's oldest tree after a new study found that an ancient alerce tree known as "great grandfather" could be more than 5,000 years old. Scientists were not able to determine an exact age based on tree rings because of the tree's massive trunk. Normally, a 1 meter (1.09 yards) cylinder of wood is extracted to count tree rings, but the great grandfather's trunk has a diameter of 4 meters. Jonathan Barichivich, the scientist who led the study, said the sample they extracted and other dating methods suggest the tree is up to 5,484 years old. Alerce (Fitzroya cupressoides) trees are pictured in a forest at the Alerce Costero National Park in Los Rios, Chil...
Read MoreExtreme temperatures, intense desert sun and high altitudes give grapes grown in Chile's Atacama Desert a thick skin, which indigenous farmers from the world's driest desert says leads to an intensely colored wine with bold flavors. Up at 3,600 meters (11,800 feet) above sea level, in between highland peaks with scarce vegetation, the grapes from Caracoles vineyard withstand extreme temperature fluctuations and harsh weather. Despite that, Cecilia Cruz, who has managed the vineyard for the last six years, says she is used to the desert's rough conditions. Farmer Cecilia Cruz, 67, poses at the grape plot of her vineyerd, Caracoles, which is at more than 3,000 meters of altitude, in the commune of Socaire, in San Pedro de Atacama, Chile May 17, 2022. REUTERS/Rodrigo Gutierrez "For ...
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