Lake Titicaca: The roof of the world dries up

World-renowned and a major tourist destination for the two countries that share its jurisdiction: Peru and Bolivia. it is expected that Three million people They survived thanks to the lake. “What is happening in Titicaca is an example of what is happening around the world: climate change, global warming and increasingly more pollution,” comments Xavier Lazaro, researcher and director of the Permanent Observatory of Lake Titicaca.

As a result drought Not only does the landscape change, but so do habits. There are 60 families living in the Coihuaia community. There, a large portion of them is devoted to livestock raising and fishing. To feed the animals, they need green reeds (aquatic plants), which is increasingly difficult to obtain. As a result, they began burning dry reed islands in the hope that new plants would sprout to feed livestock. The landscape varies between the distinctive yellow color of Dry plants And black from Charred plants.

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(Cujata Island, Titicaca). (Video: Jason Mayne/The Tennessean)

“People go to the cities,” says Oscar Limacchi, a tour guide and fisherman from Coihuaia. If life in the countryside has always been difficult, now conditions make it almost impossible. “There is talk of climate migrants,” Professor Lazaro adds.

Boats stranded on the ground, jet skis among the grasslands, and slides that end on the ground. It seems like someone pulled the plug on Lake Titicaca but that’s what happened It was supposed to rain during La Niña, but it didn’t. With the onset of the El Niño phenomenon, the forecast is not good: water shortages are expected. In addition to this, there are two other factors: Decrease in tributaries And the Evaporation of water Due to high temperature.

Previous island

To reach Kogata Island, Google Maps It represents a road surrounded by water, but if you look up, the water is no longer there. “We now only have a lagoon on one side of the island,” says Virginia Abaza Flores, who was born and raised on the island, sadly. “The situation is worrying. We do not have potable water, and we depend on rain. We don’t have anything anymoreHe added while looking at his boat, which he used for fishing, and which was stranded on the ground.

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pollution

Titicaca receives wastewater from El Alto, the city that formed around La Paz and where a million people already live. “They arrive without proper treatment, and it is very dangerous,” warns Xavier Lazaro. As a result, it is no longer possible to bathe in the lake, there is an unpleasant smell, and you can even notice the discoloration of the reeds: the roots are black.