It’s hard to imagine how many people don’t believe in climate change despite stacking evidence showing its reality. But it’s not difficult to understand why, with the team that once ran Reagan’s misinformation campaigns being hired by fossil fuel companies to spread misinformation about the topic.
- As many as 40% of Americans don’t believe that climate change is a real thing
- Lake Poopo was the second largest lake in Bolivia
- It was situated at over 12,000 feet above sea level on the country’s Andean plains
- The large body of water is now at only 2% of its original water level
- 75% of the species in and around the lake have died out
- The number of people on humanitarian aid is at 3,250 and growing
The second largest lake in Bolivia, situated on the semi-arid Andean plains, responsible for the lives of tens of thousands of people, has dried out almost completely.
Only 2% of the original water levels present in the lake have remained, and despite previous dramatic underdog returns worthy of family movie finales after similar events, scientists warn that that won’t be the case this time.
What I mean is that the lake has also dried up twice in the past before, also due to global warming, but just like the underdog team in say a sports movie, it came back.
However, as it has never dried up so much, and as the annual amount of water to fill up the lake has dropped drastically, experts say that this time it’s for good.
In 2013, the lake has received 161 billion fewer liters of water than it requires for maintaining a balance and the situation has only gone increasingly worse.
The Bolivian government has even declared the area a disaster zone, with tens of thousands of people abandoning their homes, selling their fishing supplies and livestock, and attempting to start their lives in a different city.
Of course, a part of the population didn’t manage to cut their losses at the right time, so the number of people receiving humanitarian aid has risen to 3,250, with more people needing it every day.
This is in fact an actual, by the books disaster, and it most likely won’t change the minds of the large percent of the population that believe that the whole global warming thing is made up.
Image source: Wikimedia
Richoux says
They may not believe in global warming but they probably believe in the mining that has been diverting increasing amounts of water from the lake since 1982. Its who the locals blame.