iuappa# 153 air pollution effects on the northern cordillera blanca of peru from a...

IUAPPA# 153Air Pollution Effects on the

Northern Cordillera Blanca of Perufrom a Mountaineer’s Perspective,

an Initial ExpeditionFall 2009

Frank A. Nederhand & Ellen Lapham

American Alpine Club & Alpine Club of Canada

Alisa Mast, US Geological Survey

Welcome to Canada

Valley of the Ten Peaks, Banff NP

Assiniboine

Bugaboos, BC

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I. IntroductionII. Logistics of an Environmentally

Oriented Mountaineering ExpeditionIII. Sample Collection TechniqueIV. Sample Analysis and ResultsV. Conclusion

The Presentation Outline

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Introduction• Environmental Monitoring on High Mountains using

mountaineers is a new and needed approach.• Mountainous National Parks in North and South

America are supposed to be protected for future generations

• Recent studies on some of the world’s highest mountains and Rockies of North America have found Air Pollution Impacts

• Are the highest mountains on the planet bellwethers of the health of the worlds environment?

RMNP - Diamond

Mt. Evans, Colorado4347m (14,264 ft.)

WACAPFound Hg in the Rockies

Aconcagua

PCBsFound !

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LOGISTICS OF A MOUNTAINEERING EXPEDITION With

ENVIROMENTAL MONITORING INCLUDEDIN THE CLIMB

PART II-A - THE PROCESS OF CHOOSING CLIMBS AND SUITABLE SAMPLE SITES

PART II-B - THE HAZARDS OF MOUNTAINEERING IN HIGH PLACES

PART II-C - SOME OF THE OTHER INHERENT HAZARDS OF CLIMBING IN THE CORDILLERA BLANCA


PART II-A

THE PROCESS OF CHOOSING CLIMBS AND SUITABLE SAMPLE SITES

153,909 km2

1,285,216 km2

British Columbia944,735 km2

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Northern Cordillera Blanca PeruBetween 8.5 & 9.5 Deg South

Elevation RangeNumber of

Peaks %5000 to 5500 38 32.8%5500 to 6000 48 41.4%6000 to 6500 28 24.1%> 6500 2 1.7%

116

Mt. Logan is 5950 m

Denali is 6150

6000+meters

5000m to5999m

Huaraz

ContinentalDivide

Huaraz

ContinentalDivide

Yungay


PART II-B-

THE HAZARDS OF MOUNTAINEERING IN HIGH PLACES AND HOWMOUNTAINEERS CAN OVERCOME THIS TO DO SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH SAMPLING

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Immediate Cause Total number % of TotalFall or slip on rock 751 31.06%

Slip on snow or ice 272 11.24%

Falling objects such as rock or ice 153 6.32%

Exceeding abilities 120 4.96%

Avalanche 53 2.19%

Fall into Crevasse or moat 40 1.65%

Other (each are less than 1% of total) 1030 42.58%Grand Total 2419 100.00%

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Largest Causes of accidents reflects the inherent risks of Mountaineering

1. Slips and Falls (risk proportional to difficulty of climb)

2. Rock or Ice Fall3. Exceeding abilities4. Inherent dangers of glacier / snow travel

a. Avalanchesb. Crevasses

Urus Este Climb 5125m (16,814 ft.)

Summit of Pisco5752m (18,871 ft.)


PART I-C

SOME OF THE OTHER INHERENT HAZARDS OF CLIMBING IN THE CORDILLERA BLANCA


4867m(15,967 ft.)

6034m(19,796 ft.)

Sample Location5556m (18,228 ft.)

Tocllaraju

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HACE and HAPE1. Acute mountain sickness can lead to High elevation

cerebral edema (HACE) and pulmonary edema (HAPE).

2. 5330m (17,500 ft) highest elevation man can live. 3. Mountaineers combat this by

a. Proper Training and Preparationb. Acclimatizingc. Good Hydrationd. Good Judgment

4. This is another reason why high, complex and difficult mountains should only be attempted by trained mountaineers.

Oh NO Poopies !

Lots ofPoopies

Chopicalqui Base Camp4400m (14,435 ft.)

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III. Sample Collection TechniqueSome initial considerations

1.Equipment must be simple so a mountaineer can perform the sampling

2.Light weight3.Appropriate for the medium sampled and

pollutant to be identified.4.Cost effective (keep cost as low as possible)

Punta Olympico4962m (16,279 ft.)

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Pastoruri5100m (16,732 ft.)

Maparaju – San JuanCol 5025m (16,486 ft.)

Pisco - Huandoy1st Lateral Moraine

Daniel atPisco High CampMet Station4960m (16,273 ft.)

Huaraz, PeruCafé AndinoBase Met Station3000m (9842 ft.)

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IV. Some Sample Results

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Sample vs. [Low Conc.] ElementsArsenic StronciumMolibdenum CadmiumAntimony CesiumBarium LeadUranium

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Prioritize Elements to be Analyzed1. Analyze for all Micro-Elements with small

number of samples as a screening tool.2. Took the screening samples from the most

common elevation sampled (i.e. 5000m 16404 ft).3. Develop Key Factors to allow prioritization of

the elements to be analyzed:a. Saves Moneyb. Saves timec. Helps focus efforts.

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Prioritization Factors

1. One of WACAP’s data Quality Indicators.2. Elements from solid fuels combustion3. One of EPA's Listed 187 HAPs4. Typically From Earth's Crust5. One of the Everest trace elements6. Prevalent in first set of samples screened

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The 15 Priority Elements

Aluminum Cadmium Mercury Sodium

Antimony Copper Molybdenum Vanadium

Arsenic Lead Nickel Zinc

Barium Magnesium Phosphorus

Boron Manganese Silver

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The 15 Priority ElementsAluminum Cadmium Mercury Sodium

Antimony Copper Molybdenum Vanadium

Arsenic Lead Nickel Zinc

Barium Magnesium Phosphorus

Boron Manganese Silver

HAPS

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Lets Compare this Environmental Study with other

high mountain snow sample work

World High Mountain Snow SamplingStudy (Year)

High(meters)

Low (meters)

VerticalProfile Sampled (meters)

Number of mountains

WACAP (2002-2007) 3536 1 2158 4

Cord. Blanca (2009) 5752 [6354]

4385 1171[1954]

8

Aconcagua (2008) 6200 3500 2700 1

Everest (2007) 8844 6500 2344 1

Pyrenees (2008) 3200 1820 1380 1

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V. ConclusionMountainRange

Elevationmeters

# of Sites

pH(su)

Mg(µg/ml)

Na(µg/ml)

Hg(ηg/ml)

Rocky Mountains

2987 to 3615(9800 to 11,860 ft.)

28 5.53 ± 0.38

3.58± 1.65

2.87± 3.1

3.97± 3.71

Cordillera Blanca

4915 to 5134(16,125 to 16,843 ft.)

8 6.24± 1.16

872.8± 926

404.2± 555

30.0± 32.1

5370 to 5556(17,618 to 18,228 ft.)

3 5.79± 0.965

232.1± 209.9

1.94± 1.53

91± 57.5

5557 to 5752(18,231 to 18,871 ft.)

1 7.17 9.83 113.1 <0.0076

Mt.Everest (2007)

6500 to 8844(21,325 to 29,015 ft.)

14 n/a 0.0684± 0.0865

0.3248± 0.538

n/a

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Significance of Data Collection1. Not enough replicate samples collected to ensure

statistical significance (due to cost constraints.)2. Horizontal comparison does show possible

impacts consistent with possible local sources.3. Data gathered is good enough to compare with

other similar high mountain monitoring studies.4. Provided good indicators for how, where and

when to perform a more complete monitoring study in the Cordillera Blanca.

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Final Conclusion

Are the highest mountains on the planet bellwethers of the health of the worlds environment?

YES

We need to preserve them and monitor them for air pollution impacts. Mountaineers can play a cost effective role in that monitoring effort.

iuappa# 153 air pollution effects on the northern cordillera blanca of peru from a...

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