When glaciers melt and rivers run red

Dark red pools of meltwater on Pastoruri peak in the Cordillera Blanca. — ©2024 The New York Times Company

DIONISIA Moreno, a 70-year-old Indigenous farmer, still remembers when the Shallap River, nearly 13,000 feet up in the Cordillera Blanca in Peru, brought crystal clear water brimming with trout to her village, Jancu.

“People and animals alike could drink the water without suffering,” Moreno said. “Now the water is red. No one can drink it.”