Usefulness of Glaciers

Socio-Economic

Today, glaciers often are tourist attractions in mountainous areas. But glaciers are also a natural resource, and people all over the world use the meltwater that glaciers produce.

Glaciers Provide Drinking Water

• People living in arid climates near mountains often rely on glacial melt for their water for part of the year.
• Many of the rivers coursing through China, India, and other parts of the Asian continent are fed largely by snowmelt from the Himalaya, but in late summer a significant part of riverflow comes from melting glaciers.
• In South America, residents of La Paz, Bolivia, rely ....