In the Andes Mountains today, water managers are using both ancient and modern approaches to improve supplies of this vital resource. Novel methods, including those based on Indigenous knowledge, are needed to help meet the challenges of population growth and a warming climate.
Earthquakes have destroyed settlements and wreaked havoc on societies throughout human history. In my soon-to-be published book, "The Monumental Andes", I speculate that a major earthquake, perhaps combined with disastrous effects from El Nino weather patterns, could have contributed to the downfall of the Chavín culture that once flourished in the Cordillera Blanca region of modern northern Peru.
One of the most spectacular mountain ranges on Earth is the Cordillera Huayhuash in northern Peru. These mountains were also the setting for "Touching the Void", the title of both a book and movie about a disastrous 1985 mountaineering expedition.
