The Andes’ Melting Glaciers
The Andes' glaciers are rapidly melting as global temperatures continue to rise. Climate change has already taken a heavy toll on the glaciers of Antisana, Ecuador’s fourth highest mountain.
The Andes' glaciers are rapidly melting as global temperatures continue to rise. Climate change has already taken a heavy toll on the glaciers of Antisana, Ecuador’s fourth highest mountain.
Climate change may affect not only the ice cap on Antisana, but also the páramo, the spongy grassland that surrounds it—and provides Quito, Ecuador's capital, with one-third of its water.
The booming urban populations of Bolivia and Peru are threatening Lake Titicaca, as well as the indigenous populations that depend on it.
In Bolivia, urban growth poses a major pollution threat to Lake Titicaca, South America's largest freshwater lake. Some downstream communities are trying to fight back.
A new kind of toilet may be the salvation of Lake Titicaca. It's sanitary and it may even produce compost suitable for growing food.
With urban populations increasing, Lake Titicaca is being polluted with waste from booming cities in Peru and Bolivia.
South America's most famous lake is being polluted by increasing levels of waste from fast-growing cities, according to locals, environmentalists and politicians.
Gold-mining operations in remote regions of the Peruvian Amazon have stirred major environmental and health concerns over mercury contamination in fish, fish-eating wildlife and humans.
Marcelino Coila Choque, a local fisherman, is concerned that over-fishing and water contamination will threaten the future of Lake Titicaca's resources.
Colombia's gold rush pits local subsistence miners against large corporate interests, criminal gangs and the police.
El Alto is one of the fastest-growing cities in South America, but its infrastructure is lagging. The city’s wastewater is piped directly into rivers that connect to Lake Titicaca.
Illegal gold mining has become rampant in Peru. The government has tried to curb the practice by raiding mining operations, but so far this has had little impact.