Global change impacts on montain hazards and tourism in the aconcagua region, Mendoza, Argentine

LEIVA, J.C.; MACKERN, M.V.; CABRERA, G.A.; LENZANO, L.E.

Global Change in Mountain Regions

SAPIENS PUBLISHING

Lugar: Dumfrieshire; Año: 2006; p. 259 - 260

Global Change impacts will require both adaptation and mitigation actions; the capacity of countries to react will aggravate the economic differences between them. The developing world might be forced to take only adaptation actions in given the lack of technical and financial resources to begin with mitigation at present. Changes in water availability induced by global environmental change are one of the main issues that mankind is likely to face in the near future. Economic consequences for drylands could be severe. For example, the irrigated oases of Mendoza and San Juan provinces, situated in the western Argentina, could be subject to strong water shortages if water resource management is not improved and appropriate adaptation and mitigation strategies are not adopted. Global Change will also change the distribution and frequency of the natural hazards in this mountain region, with possible impacts on trading, tourism and climbing activities, thus affecting the regional economy. This study focuses on Aconcagua Provincial Park where the main activities are trekking and mountaineering, with Aconcagua.(6962 m.asl) as the principal attraction for international tourists. The park can be reached from Mendoza city by the Panamerican Road (Ruta Nacional Nº7) that joins Mendoza to Santiago de Chile. This road is the main connection between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans for the Mercosur countries. In spite of its economic importance, the road is still affected by numerous natural hazards such as snow avalanches, rockslides, rockfall as well as mud and debris flows (and other mass wasting processes); in addition its course has been affected, in 1934, by an outburst flood originating in an ice-dammed lake created by the surge of the Grande del Nevado del Plomo glacier (Bruce et al.1987, Espizua 1986, Helbling 1935, Leiva 1986,1989, 1999).