Glaciers are retreating at an unexpectedly fast rate according to research done in Peru's Cordillera Blanca by McGill doctoral student Michel Baraer.

Recent scientific studies indicate that between June 1983 and August 2006, a glacier on Peru’s Huaytapallana Mountain has lost 50 percent of its surface ice.

The ice atop Cordillera Blanca, the largest glacier chain in the tropics, is melting fast because of rising temperatures, and peaks are turning brown. The trend is highlighting fears of global warming and, scientists say, is endangering future water supplies.