Chile has some of the world's largest open pit copper mines. This mine, named Chuquicamata, is located near Antofagasta in northern Chile.
Click on image for full size
Image Courtesy of the Wikipedia Commons

Human Impacts in the Southeast Pacific Region

What is the connection between human activity in western Chile and Peru and the Southeast Pacific climate system? Much of this region is very sparsely populated. The lack of rainfall limits where people can live. Most people in this region live in the large coastal or port cities such as Santiago, Valparaiso, Concepcion, Iquique, and Antofagasta in Chile and in Lima and Arequipa in Peru.

Mining is very important in this region. There is a rich variety of minerals, including copper, nitrates, iron, manganese, molybdenum, gold, and silver. This region is one of the world's largest copper-mining centers. The aerosols that are released as part of the copper smelting process will be studied as part of the VOCALS field experiment. This is because aerosols impact the formation of clouds. Learning more about how aerosols impact cloud formation is a key part of VOCALS science.

The nutrient rich coastal waters support a fishing industry that is another important economic activity in this region. Fishing and processing fish are very important especially in larger port cities such as Iquique and Arica. VOCALS scientists are interested in the impact of changing climates on commercial fisheries. If ocean temperatures warm, how will the fish populations be impacted?

Last modified September 19, 2008 by Sandra Henderson.

You might also be interested in:

Cool It! Game

Check out our online store - minerals, fossils, books, activities, jewelry, and household items!...more

Southeast Pacific Climate

The Southeast Pacific Ocean region off the coastal areas of Peru and Chile is one part of the world where stratus and stratocumulus clouds are frequently present. Other areas include the subtropical climate...more

Atacama Desert

The Atacama Desert is one of the driest places on Earth. The Atacama is in the country of Chile in South America. In an average year, much of this desert gets less than 1 millimeter (0.04 inch) of rain!...more

Aerosols: Tiny Particulates in the Air

When you look up at the sky, you are looking at more than just air. There are also billions of tiny bits of solid and liquid floating in the atmosphere. Those tiny floating particles are called aerosols...more

What is VOCALS?

What if you wanted to learn more about the climate of a very large area of the world? What would be involved in studying how the oceans, land, and atmosphere interact? You would need to have a team of...more

How Clouds Form

A cloud is composed of tiny water droplets or ice crystals that are suspended in the air. A series of processes have to happen in order for these water droplets or ice crystals to form into clouds in the...more

Introduction to VOCALS Science

Scientists know that west coasts of Chile and Peru and the Southeastern Pacific Ocean are a very important part of the global climate system. However, they don't completely understand how the oceans, atmosphere,...more

Fisheries in the Southeast Pacific Region

If you like anchovies on your pizza, there is a good chance that the little fish now swimming in tomato sauce was once swimming in the Southeast Pacific Ocean. It was probably caught off the coasts of...more

Windows to the Universe, a project of the National Earth Science Teachers Association, is sponsored in part is sponsored in part through grants from federal agencies (NASA and NOAA), and partnerships with affiliated organizations, including the American Geophysical Union, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Earth System Information Partnership, the American Meteorological Society, the National Center for Science Education, and TERC. The American Geophysical Union and the American Geosciences Institute are Windows to the Universe Founding Partners. NESTA welcomes new Institutional Affiliates in support of our ongoing programs, as well as collaborations on new projects. Contact NESTA for more information. NASA ESIP NCSE HHMI AGU AGI AMS NOAA