Lake Poopo, Bolivia's 2nd-largest lake, dries up
Climate change has boosted temperatures, tripling evaporation
Thomson Reuters Posted: Dec 18, 2015 10:24 AM ET Last Updated: Dec 18, 2015 1:27 PM ET
What happens when a lake dries up entirely? In the case of the Lake Poopo in Bolivia, the Andean nation's formerly second largest after the famed Titicaca, the answer is nothing short of devastation.
The saltwater lake was located in the Bolivian altiplano at an altitude of 3,700 metres.
'There should be some rain. But that's not happening and so there's nothing.'
- Valerio Calle Rojas, fisherman
The government has declared the area a "disaster zone," but many say not enough has been done to make the area sustainable again.
"We have no lake. There were flamingos. But after the first few days of December, we are not surprised the lake has dried up," Valerio Calle Rojas, one of 150 fishermen from the Untavi community, told Reuters.
'40 days ago there was water'
CLIMATECHANGE-SUMMIT/BOLIVIA-LAKE
The saltwater Lake Poopo was located in the Bolivian altiplano at an altitude of 3,700 metres. (David Mercado/Reuters)
Rojas explained Lake Poopo's gradual water loss.
"From corner to corner, it is dry. In the 90's there was at least 2,000 square kilometres (772 square miles) of water (in the lake). After that, the water level began going down, In 1995, 1996, there was a drought as well, and the water dried up, but it came back quickly," he said. "Right now the water should be coming back at least a little bit. There should be some rain. But that's not happening and so there's nothing,"
Mining outfits depended on the lake
The situation has been made all the more acute by the building up of metres-high sediment from local mining that has no water to combine with, leaving much of the local land full of a reddish sand.
With the water gone, animals have died off in the millions, according to studies. (David Mercado/Reuters)
Climate change blamed
Local specialists have no trouble identifying the role of climate change.
"Lake Poopo has been tracked for about 60 years and there has been evidence that climate change has had an effect in the last decade, from the 90's in the 20th Century. The temperature has gone up 0.9 degrees Celsius," said Milton Perez, a professor at the Oruro Technical University.
World's lakes are warming surprisingly quickly due to climate change
That has made water evaporate three times as fast between rains. He went on to note the changing climate patterns.
