La Paz (Bolivia): Evaporation blamed on
global warming has reduced Lake Titicaca, one of the world's
highest navigable lakes, to its lowest level since 1949,
authorities have said.
Diminished rainfall and a rise in solar radiation have in
the past four years led to critically low water levels that
now threaten fish spawning areas and plant life, the Lake
Titicaca Authority said in a statement.
Titicaca's waters have dropped 81 centimeters (2.65 feet)
since April and flora and fauna are apt to suffer damage if
they drop another 30 centimeters (one foot), the statement
said.
Navy Capt Jorge Ernesto Espinoza told ATB television that
South America's largest lake is receding by 2 to 3 centimeters
(about an inch) a week.
The lake, straddling Bolivia and Peru at 3,800 meters
(12,493 feet) elevation, is an 8,400 square kilometer (3,240
square mile) oasis on an arid high plain an hour's drive from
the Bolivian capital, La Paz.
The lake is fed by rainfall and melt water from glaciers,
which scientists say are shrinking rapidly due to global
warming and could disappear altogether by mid-century.
About 2.6 million people depend on the lake for their
sustenance.
Bureau Report
First Published: Friday, November 13, 2009, 13:31