| This study analyzes the historical effects of glacier melting on twentieth-century Peruvian society, politics, economics, and culture. Between 1941 and 1970, global warming and ensuing glacier retreat triggered a series of glacier avalanches and glacial lake outburst floods in Peru's Cordillera Blanca mountain range. These glacier disasters killed nearly 30,000 people. Since 1941, Peruvian authorities, scientists, developers, and local people have worked continuously to protect residents and infrastructure, especially the Canon del Pato hydroelectric station, from additional glacier disasters. They studied Cordillera Blanca glaciers, developed disaster mitigation technologies, and conducted engineering projects to drain and dam dangerous Cordillera Blanca glacial lakes. In addition to examining the direct effects of climate change and natural disasters, this study also analyzes these long-term science and engineering projects, which brought new state institutions to the Cordillera Blanca region. Because of the incessant glacier catastrophes, local people became dependent on the government to protect them from natural disasters with science and technology. Reliance on the state also stemmed from local decisions to resist government relocation plans and remain in glacier hazard zones. By examining the historical interactions among scientists, hydroelectric developers, government officials, local indigenous residents, and local mestizos, this study analyzes how distinct groups of people understood and responded to glacier disasters. Although each group reacted differently, they all helped shape the historical evolution of disaster mitigation science and policy. Consequently, this analysis demonstrates how science, engineering, and nation building are contested and negotiated processes in which experts often acted as mediators between local people and the state, as well as between humans and nature. This Peruvian case generates broader understandings about the role of states and scientists in local societies. Further, as a ground-level analysis of the diverse consequences of climate change and natural disasters, this study has important implications for the fields of environmental history, history of science, natural disaster studies, and present-day concerns about global warming. |
