Sometime in the last five years, the glacier atop a mountain in northern Ecuador vanished. It might seem paradoxical to have glaciers right at the equator, but the high altitude of the Andes Mountains has kept the peaks snowy year round for thousands of years ? up until now. Scientists say that 80 percent of Andean ice caps are likely to melt away in the next 15 years due to climate change. The glacier's demise means less water and a changing way of life for the 30,000 mostly indigenous people who live in the foothills of Cotacachi Mountain. Their story is this week's installment of our ongoing series, "Early Signs: Reports from a Warming Planet."

Sometime in the last five years, the glacier atop a mountain in northern Ecuador vanished. It might seem paradoxical to have glaciers right at the equator, but the high altitude of the Andes Mountains has kept the peaks snowy year round for thousands of years ? up until now. Scientists say that 80 percent of Andean ice caps are likely to melt away in the next 15 years due to climate change. The glacier's demise means less water and a changing way of life for the 30,000 mostly indigenous people who live in the foothills of Cotacachi Mountain. Their story is this week's installment of our ongoing series, "Early Signs: Reports from a Warming Planet."