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The Power of Patagonia

With its glacier-carved peaks and fjords, southern Chile remains one of the wildest places on Earth. But that could soon change.

/2010/02/patagonia/img/01-torres-paine-714.jpg /2010/02/patagonia/img/patagonia-60-01.jpg Photograph by Maria Stenzel Torres del Paine National Park Once the haunt of a few stalwart climbers, Chile's Torres del Paine National Park now draws more than 100,000 visitors a year.]]> http://national-geographic.cafepress.com/art/s_1281922 /2010/02/patagonia/img/02-dawn-714.jpg /2010/02/patagonia/img/patagonia-60-02.jpg Photograph by Maria Stenzel Torres del Paine National Park The peaks of Torres del Paine National Park glow in the first light of dawn in this two-frame composite image. Here time passes as swiftly as the onrush of water and as slowly as the imperceptible wearing away of granite.]]> http://national-geographic.cafepress.com/art/s_1281940 /2010/02/patagonia/img/03-visitor-handouts-714.jpg /2010/02/patagonia/img/patagonia-60-03.jpg Photograph by Maria Stenzel Torres del Paine National Park The price of tourism in Torres del Paine National Park: During summer months, a nearly tame Patagonian fox subsists largely on handouts from visitors.]]> http://national-geographic.cafepress.com/art/s_1281929 /2010/02/patagonia/img/04-heavy-winds-714.jpg /2010/02/patagonia/img/patagonia-60-04.jpg Photograph by Maria Stenzel Torres del Paine National Park A 40-knot wind bends a ñire tree on the banks of the Río Paine. Fed by runoff from glaciers and copious snow and rain, Patagonia's rivers flow fast and furious—a tempting source of hydropower.]]> http://national-geographic.cafepress.com/art/s_1281924 /2010/02/patagonia/img/05-grey-glacier-714.jpg /2010/02/patagonia/img/patagonia-60-05.jpg Photograph by NASA Torres del Paine National Park Seen from space, Grey Glacier resembles a great white bear come to drink. In reality it is shedding water and fast retreating. All but two of the 48 glaciers in the Southern Ice Field are shrinking at record rates.]]> http://national-geographic.cafepress.com/art/s_1281913 /2010/02/patagonia/img/06-forest-714.jpg /2010/02/patagonia/img/patagonia-60-06.jpg Photograph by Maria Stenzel Torres del Paine National Park A forest of intricate beauty grows on the slopes of Cerro Ferrier in Torres del Paine National Park. A lichen commonly called old man's beard colonizes the trunks of lenga trees (Nothofagus pumilio).]]> http://national-geographic.cafepress.com/art/s_1281938 /2010/02/patagonia/img/07-eyre-fjord-714.jpg /2010/02/patagonia/img/patagonia-60-07.jpg Photograph by Maria Stenzel Bernardo O'Higgins National Park In Eyre Fjord, a small pod of Peale's dolphins lead the way to the face of Pío XI, one of many places where dynamic forces are shaping the future of Chilean Patagonia.]]> http://national-geographic.cafepress.com/art/s_1281917 /2010/02/patagonia/img/08-huemel-deer-714.jpg /2010/02/patagonia/img/patagonia-60-08.jpg Photograph by Maria Stenzel Bernardo O'Higgins National Park "Very confiding," wrote an early observer of the huemul deer, which showed little fear of humans. Now endangered, the deer have become wary in areas visited by tourists.]]> http://national-geographic.cafepress.com/art/s_1281919 /2010/02/patagonia/img/09-canal-messier-714.jpg /2010/02/patagonia/img/patagonia-60-09.jpg Photograph by Maria Stenzel Las Guaitecas National Reserve Twilight descends serenely over Canal Messier, one of the major routes through the fjords. Patagonia's weather can be wild, but the fjords are sheltered waters, their great depth helping to keep them calm.]]> http://national-geographic.cafepress.com/art/s_1281933 /2010/02/patagonia/img/10-yacht-714.jpg /2010/02/patagonia/img/patagonia-60-10.jpg Photograph by Maria Stenzel Bernardo O'Higgins National Park Anchored before the face of Pío XI Glacier, the 46-foot steel yawl Endeavor is dwarfed by the immensity of the ice in this multiframe panorama.]]> http://national-geographic.cafepress.com/art/s_1281939 /2010/02/patagonia/img/11-lautaro-714.jpg /2010/02/patagonia/img/patagonia-60-11.jpg Photograph by Maria Stenzel Bernardo O'Higgins National Park Lautaro, an active volcano (background), broods over the tortured surface of Pío XI Glacier. Chile's sprawling ice fields are among the world's largest outside the polar regions.]]> http://national-geographic.cafepress.com/art/s_1281918 /2010/02/patagonia/img/12-excursion-boat-714.jpg /2010/02/patagonia/img/patagonia-60-12.jpg Photograph by Maria Stenzel Bernardo O'Higgins National Park An excursion boat from a cruise ship approaches the face of the Pío XI Glacier in Bernardo O'Higgins National Park.]]> http://national-geographic.cafepress.com/art/s_1281930 /2010/02/patagonia/img/13-imperial-cormorants-714.jpg /2010/02/patagonia/img/patagonia-60-13.jpg Photograph by Maria Stenzel Bernardo O'Higgins National Park A flight of imperial cormorants crosses the veined face of Pío XI Glacier.]]> http://national-geographic.cafepress.com/art/s_1281931 /2010/02/patagonia/img/14-tampano-714.jpg /2010/02/patagonia/img/patagonia-60-14.jpg Photograph by Maria Stenzel Bernardo O'Higgins National Park Cold blue contrasts with warm brown as mosses and lichens colonize bare rock left behind by the retreat of Témpano Glacier in Bernardo O'Higgins National Park.]]> http://national-geographic.cafepress.com/art/s_1281932 /2010/02/patagonia/img/15-northern-ice-714.jpg /2010/02/patagonia/img/patagonia-60-15.jpg Photograph by Maria Stenzel Laguna San Rafael National Park Andean peaks crest the clouds above the Northern Ice Field. At once severe and sublime, this icy wilderness is ruled by elemental forces that cause it to remain, for the most part, a blank spot on scientific maps.]]> http://national-geographic.cafepress.com/art/s_1281925 /2010/02/patagonia/img/16-san-rafael-714.jpg /2010/02/patagonia/img/patagonia-60-16.jpg Photograph by Maria Stenzel Laguna San Rafael National Park In Laguna San Rafael National Park, the calving of a berg from San Rafael Glacier begins with the groan of ice, is followed by a volley of detonations, and ends with a hissing thunderclap. Between 1871 and 2007, it retreated seven and a half miles.]]> http://national-geographic.cafepress.com/art/s_1281935 /2010/02/patagonia/img/17-fish-714.jpg /2010/02/patagonia/img/patagonia-60-17.jpg Photograph by Maria Stenzel Las Guaitecas National Reserve Floating pens hold salmon being raised for export to foreign markets. Intensive production methods have led to pollution and the spread of infectious salmon anemia. The industry's solution—even as output falters—is to move south into pristine fjords, leaving behind waste, disease, and oxygen-depleted water.]]> http://national-geographic.cafepress.com/art/s_1281923 /2010/02/patagonia/img/18-salmon-leap-714.jpg /2010/02/patagonia/img/patagonia-60-18.jpg Photograph by Maria Stenzel Las Guaitecas National Reserve A salmon leaps in the netted enclosure of a fish farm in Las Guaitecas National Reserve. While the land is protected from development and commercial use, the water of the fjord is not.]]> http://national-geographic.cafepress.com/art/s_1281936 /2010/02/patagonia/img/19-fjords-714.jpg /2010/02/patagonia/img/patagonia-60-19.jpg Photograph by Maria Stenzel Las Guaitecas National Reserve Fish are fed pellets containing fish proteins and antibiotics. Intensive production methods have led to pollution and the spread of infectious salmon anemia.]]> http://national-geographic.cafepress.com/art/s_1281921 /2010/02/patagonia/img/20-aisen-sound-714.jpg /2010/02/patagonia/img/patagonia-60-20.jpg Photograph by Maria Stenzel Las Guaitecas National Reserve The pristine waters and peaks of Aisén Sound appear fresh from the finger of God. Yet just beyond the horizon lie some 300 salmon farms.]]> http://national-geographic.cafepress.com/art/s_1281937 /2010/02/patagonia/img/21-meltwater-714.jpg /2010/02/patagonia/img/patagonia-60-21.jpg Photograph by Maria Stenzel Katalalixar National Reserve In Katalalixar National Reserve, a fjord runs milky blue with silt-laden glacial meltwater, temperate rain forest draping its steep sides.]]> http://national-geographic.cafepress.com/art/s_1281934 /2010/02/patagonia/img/22-byron-island-714.jpg /2010/02/patagonia/img/patagonia-60-22.jpg Photograph by Maria Stenzel Katalalixar National Reserve Inland ice fields give way along Chile's coast to a maze of islands and fjords. The weather here is rarely calm. On Byron Island, the skull of a sei whale rests in a tidal creek—until the next storm.]]> http://national-geographic.cafepress.com/art/s_1281920