Bolivia’s second-largest lake disappears
Bolivia’s second-largest lake has disappeared
Location: Lake Poopo, Bolivia
Lake Poopo once lapped the shores of the island of Isla de Panza
But it dried up in 2015
(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) LOCAL, CRISTINA MAMANI, SAYING:
"The water of Lake Poopo would start here. We would arrive from the Untavi community by boat with all my children. The water would reach here and we would leave the boat here. Then my children would say,"Let's go home," and they would run to my home."
Scientists say the lake fell victim to decades of diversion for irrigation needs
with an increasingly warm climate has making its recovery unlikely
(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) LOCAL, VALERIO ROJAS, SAYING:
"Every 50 years Lake Poopo would fill up, that's what our grandparents said. It would have been 50 years in 2026, since Lake Poopo was in a good state. Now we are waiting for 2026. Will the lake fill again? With this climate change and pollution, it seems to me that the weather can no longer be predicted. In our Aymara language it is said that, "Our mother Earth is tired". That's what grandparents had said."
