Paris, Nov 28 (AFP/APP): Fires in the Amazon rainforest are likely to increase the rate of melting of Andean glaciers, potentially disrupting water supply for tens of millions of people, scientists said on Thursday. Images of smoke-filled horizons from blazes burning out of control across the Amazon basin made headlines around the world earlier this year. The fires are started deliberately, often by farmers clearing land for grazing or crops, and are made significantly worse by deforestation — a phenomenon currently at its highest level in a decade. A team of researchers in Brazil studied the effect that smoke from the fires might have on glaciers in the Andes — prevailing winds carry dust particles hundreds of kilometres, allowing them to be trapped in snow and ice. Based on observations and modelling of fires between 2007-2010 — a peak period — the team found that aerosols from burning had the potential to increase glacier melting by darkening their surface colour. Pollutants such as black carbon and dust lodged in the ice reduce the glacier’s ability to reflect sunlight — known as its albedo — speeding the rates of melting by up to 14 percent. Life Tips by Mehreen: How to … Continue reading Amazon fires ‘quicken Andean glacier melt’