evidence: Crowning the magnificent mountains and towering over the turquoise lakes of the Argentinean town of El Chaltén, lie a wealth of glaciers rich in beauty, history and ecological significance. In the Los Glaciares National Park there are 48 expansive glaciers to discover and over 100 smaller ones. All of them are located within the Southern Patagonian Ice Field. Although they have been in constant decline since the 1970s, today more than ever, it is vital that the role these glaciers play in sustaining life on our planet is more widely understood. Here we provide you with more details. [...] The snowdrifts and glaciers in the El Chaltén area are fed by the Southern Patagonian Ice Field, also known as The Southern Icefields or The Patagonian Continental Icefield. The Andes mountain range in this area of Patagonia is largely submerged beneath this 12,363 km2 expanse of ice, with only the tallest peaks emerging out of it. The Southern Patagonian Ice Field straddles both Argentina and Chile and is considered the third largest area of ice in the world after Antarctica and Greenland. It is the second largest freshwater reserve on the planet. [...] In 1937 the Argentinean government created the Los Glaciares National Park at a nexus point where glaciers of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field, numerous forests and iconic mountains converge. Furthermore, in 1981, the United Nations Organization (UNESCO) declared the area a World Heritage Site.