Coming on the heels of Earth Day and a meeting of indigenous groups in Alaska to discuss global warming, today's Guardian article about the Uru Chipaya of Bolivia brings to light just one of the effects and possible casualties of rising temperatures.The Uru Chipaya are known as the "water people" of the Andes, and are believed to be "the oldest surviving culture in the Andes." As the land they have inhabited for 4,000 years ceases to sustain them due to drought, their culture and the Uru language face extinction.
From the article:
The tribal chief, 62-year-old Felix Quispe, 62, says the river that has sustained them for millennia is drying up. His people cannot cope with the dramatic reduction in the Lauca, which has dwindled in recent decades amid erratic rainfall that has turned crops to dust and livestock to skin and bones.Continue Reading >>>
"Over here used to be all water," he said, gesturing across an arid plain. "There were ducks, crabs, reeds growing in the water. I remember that. What are we going to do? We are water people."
Image: bolivie.org
With the many many problems that humanity faces in these troubling times, climate change often gets lost in the shuffle. However, there are places on the planet that are seeing the very real effects of climate change, and we would be wise to take heed and begin to figure out exactly what is happening.
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