“In Bolivia, Water and Ice Tell of Climate Change”

Courtesy of Aubrey Bobo:

In El Alto, Bolivia, Celia Cruz’s water tap across from her mud-walled home dried up in September. She no longer has water near her home, she has to go on daily pilgrimages to better-off-neighborhoods to retreive her water elsewhere. She has lived in El Alto for 10 years and he husband has a decent job, but they cannot buy water. They are thinking about moving back to the countryside. Two years ago there were no problems for Celia Cruz and her family, but two years later they cannot live without water. The glaciers that have provided them with water and electricity to Bolivia are starting to melt and disappear, they are vicitims of global warming. In a report that was taken last year, with climate change happening as is, many glaciers could be eliminated in the Andes within the next 20 years, which would threaten amost 100 million lives. The central focus is how to address the needs of the dozen of countries that are dealing with the climate change. World leaders in the rich nations, need to provide money and technology to the less fortunate countries to help adapt to the problems they are having. There was discussion by some of the poor countries if they would stage a walk-out if the rich nations refused to provide enough money to help them with their problems. Recently, the European Union agreed to pay 3.5 billion dollars for the next three years to help out the poor countries. They are initiating the help to the poorer nations. Bolivia is very concerned with this problem and they are demanding financial help to be paid in full and rapidly. They are nervous about the climate change and they need the help from the rich countries. The effects of climate change are happening so fast that they are not able to respond to them, reservoirs take five to seven years to build and they need more immediate help. People in these poor countries are already a at-risk population and now you are adding the stress of climate change to their lives. For residents that are in Bolivia and other poor countries, they are having negative consequences from the climate change that is happening from the glaciers and other sources.