Citing a 2014 study, at the rate that Chile's glaciers are disappearing, they could be gone in a few years.

Chile accounts for 82% of the glaciers in South America. Patagonia's glaciers are part of them. The region is located in South America's southernmost tip. Chile and Argentina share Patagonia, and on the side of Chile are the glacial inlet temperate rainforests.

Three decades ago, the town of El Chalten was established as a military outpost with Chile's border dispute. Nowadays, the town, with its mountainous glacial offerings, has become one of the world's leading trekking destinations and is visited by an estimated 50,000 tourists each year just between November and April, according to Windsor Star.

Patagonia's pristine streams can be drunk safely by visitors. Condors are commonly seen soaring in the skies and one can relax underneath the region's granite towers

Sadly, the breathtaking sites and activities provided by the glaciers could vanish as rapidly as the white, blue and brown cascades are disappearing.

While not as popular as the Antarctic glaciers, Patagonia's glaciers in Chile comprise one of the Earth's largest freshwater reserves and they are vital to the survival of the local ecosystems.

Climate change in southern Chile and mining activities in northern and central Chile are threatening their existence.

In an attempt to gather critical data about Chile's glaciers and the rate at which they're diminishing, Greenpeace's Esperanza went to Patagonia and stayed there for several days.

Together with glaciologists and a climatologist, Greenpeace's expedition studied two remote glaciers in the southern region of Chile. One of the glaciers, Pio XI, which is the largest in the Southern Ice Fields, was studied via radar technique radioglaciology. The team of researchers had to hike for hours to measure the ancient ice's thickness.

Cameras were placed in vital locations as well to monitor their retreat rate.

Moreover, in a research by AntarcticGlaciers.Org, which used satellite measurements to study the Patagonian Ice Fields, it was discovered that the glaciers are receding and thinning at an incredibly rapid rate. This quick decline will eventually contribute significantly to the already alarming sea level rise in the world.

Major ice fields in the regions of North Patagonian Ice Field, South Patagonian Ice Field, Gran Campo Nevado and Cordillera Darwin reportedly suffered extensive glacier losses.

The years with the fastest rate of loss were from 2000 to 2011 in the Chilean Lake District and in the Northern Patagonian Ice Field, while from 1986 to 2001, glaciers in the south like the Cordillera Darwin, Monte Sarmiento, Isla Riesco and Tierra Del Fuego, shrank the fastest.

This means that Chile's glaciers are shrinking faster than ever as compared to the last 100 years.

What can we do to stop this?

Chile's laws have little to no protection of their glaciers.

In fact, there are no laws governing big companies responsible for their destruction.

Chile-based company CODELCO, which is the world's largest copper producer, has wrecked around 342 hectares of Andes glaciers. Mining companies Barrick, Antofagasta Minerals and Anglo American have also continued their business and rapidly destroyed glacial areas, therefore threatening Chilean water reserves.

However, according to Greenpeace, Chile is undergoing a proposal consideration process where some glaciers will be protected, but it still poses a problem for over 50% of Chile's glaciers as they are left unprotected.

There is still hope though.

The environmental protection organization says that people can help if more persons would send personal messages to Chilean President Michelle Bachelet to protect all glaciers and the people of Chile.

To get more data on Antarctic Glacier's research, check out the GLIMS database, which is available for download. Meanwhile, full inventory and analysis are also seen in the Journal of Glaciology, Davies and Glasser 2012.