Glacier threat to Bolivia capital

[Judi Lynn]

Page last updated at 12:02 GMT, Friday, 4 December 2009
Glacier threat to Bolivia capital
By David Shukman
Environment correspondent, BBC News, La Paz, Bolivia

Vanishing glaciers imperil La Paz

Fears are growing for the future of water supplies in one of Latin America's fastest-growing urban areas - Bolivia's sprawling capital of La Paz and its twin El Alto.

Scientists monitoring the glaciers high in the Andes mountains - a key source of water - say the ice is showing signs of shrinking faster than previously forecast.

Faced with a booming population and a combination of glacial retreat and reduced rainfall, the governor of the La Paz region is even contemplating moving people to other parts of Bolivia.

Water is already in short supply among the poorest communities and has become a cause of tension.

More:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8394324.stm

[Peace Patriot]

1. It is very bitterly ironical that Bolivia, after its "Water Wars" with Bechtel Corp

and the election, at long last, of a government into protecting Bolivia's resources against the theft and oppression of global corporate predators, would have this "first world"-created global warming disaster inflicted upon them. They are one of the least developed countries in the world, and thus one of the least polluting countries in the world, and have just--with Evo Morales' election wins and huge popularity, and successful votes on their new constitution--achieved independence from the US and its domineering corps and World Bank/IMF enforcers.

Here is an excellent account of the "Water Wars" in Bolivia, which occurred circa 2000. It is a must-read for understanding Bolivia.
http://www.democracyctr.org/bolivia/investigations/water/the_water_war.htm

[rabs]

2. More on climate change affecting Bolivia

If anyone wants to see the glaciers in Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina, start making plans to travel soon.

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(Report from last month)

Experts say most tropical glaciers in the Andes are doomed to disappear in the medium term due to global warming.

In 2000, Bolivia only emitted 0.35 percent of the world's greenhouse gases, the humanitarian group Oxfam noted in a report published ahead of key UN-sponsored climate talks in Copenhagen next month.

And yet, Oxfam warned Bolivia will be hit disproportionately as thousands of Andean farmers and La Paz residents depend on melt waters from the glaciers, which accounts for 15 percent of the capital's supply.

Nearly half of the country's energy supply - 40 percent - comes from hydroelectric sources.

The apparent injustice is fueling a government-backed civil lobbying effort to push for "international climate justice" and pressure industrialized countries to compensate populations hit by their "climate crimes."

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/warming-brings-early-demise-to-bolivian-glacier-1821088.html

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Good NPR report on glaciers disappearing at an alarming rate (audio, March 10, 2008, includes water shortage in El Alto.


http://www.npr.org/templates/player/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=88031217&m=88031197

[Braulio]

3. I guess they could try to use the pill

Or vasectomies. Or they can try moving to Santa Cruz and working in the cattle ranches?