|
|
|
My mother was 18 years old when she sailed across a vast ocean from her native country, Peru, to her stepfather's homeland of Denmark. When I was a little girl, my family used to visit Peru every couple of years. I have such vivid memories of playing with the local kids in the streets, trying to catch stray puppies, swimming in mountain rivers and eating freshly caught fish.
I recently traveled back to my mother's homeland as a photographer and ambassador for the humanitarian organization Oxfam. I wanted to draw attention to the effects of climate change on this beautiful country of rainforests, mountains and coastal deserts and raise awareness of the heartbreaking issues the people of Peru face.
As with many poorer countries, Peru is bearing the brunt of a problem it has done little to cause. What is happening scientifically is complicated to explain, but the effects are clear for everyone to see. Peru's CO2 emissions account for only 0.1 percent of greenhouse gasses in the earth's atmosphere. But with some 77 percent of the highest tropical mountains on the planet, it is especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change, since there are so many towns at high altitude.
There are 18 glacier mountain ranges in Peru, and all of them are melting fast. It is estimated that by 2020 all the glaciers lower than 5,000 meters above sea level will have been lost. This will affect all aspects of life in the country.
The farmers we met and talked to are already living incredibly tough lives, and are now being forced to adapt to the effects of the rapidly changing climate. They can no longer rely on farming, because the weather has become too erratic to count on.
One of the women I spoke to, Elizabeth Ayma, told me that because rainfall is less frequent now and impossible to predict, this is having a huge effect on food production. As a result, her family has less food to eat and less produce to sell, meaning that she is not able to afford her children's school fees. The lack of nutritional vegetables also affects her family's health.
Another woman, Justina Pumasumpa told us they blame themselves for the change in climate. "The Bible describes droughts and earth tremors, and this is like an act of God. We have less and less water, and we must have done something wrong to make God so angry."
This breaks my heart, but I am encouraged at the steps they have taken to protect their precious water by creating a reservoir in the village.
Another farmer I met, Enrique Mandura, asked me to pass the word to the politicians discussing climate change in Copenhagen that they would be grateful for a deal that gives them water and soil conservation, so they can maintain their crops and livestock.
"We have so little water and the seasons are continually changing," he said. "Our alpacas die and our vegetables too from the lack of water. How can we protect our glaciers? We watch them disappear and feel helpless about it. What will we do when there is no water here? We will all have to move to the overcrowded city, and what can we do for work then?"
I photographed some stunning sights in Peru, and met some truly inspiring people. They are doing what they can to fight the effects of the climate changes but the power lies in the hands of the world leaders. I realize now that the drastic steps they must take in order to lower the carbon dioxide emissions and help these communities cope won't be easy tasks. But it needs to be done, there is really no way around it anymore.
|
|
|
|
I am looking forward with anticipation and baited breath to the conference in my hometown of Copenhagen. We are at a critical tipping point. There's no time left, it is absolutely imperative to act now.
A Danish saying goes along the lines of, "every tiny stream put together creates one big river." We all know that it will take time and cost a hell of a lot of money to change the world's priorities. But we don't have a choice anymore.
http://glacierchange.wordpress.com/2009/11/17/hinman-glacier-disappers/
http://glacierchange.wordpress.com/2009/07/19/milk-lake-glacier-loss/
Peru is an amazing country.
Thank you, Helena, for sharing your photos and your thoughts on this important climate topic.
But...., but everyone knows that the climate is actually cooling. I read it in the Ameriklan ThinCurr. Why does NOAA keep pretending that they actually know something?
Thank you for being part of that small, but hopefully growing, group who ARE making a positive difference.
Carry on!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainable_retreat
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_ecology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Lovelock
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2009/11/climategate_heats_up.html
Hype, hysteria, or level-headedness; which wins out.
Yes, you're right, there's no corporate greed or interest here.
Another little fact. Since when were there glaciers in Peru below 5,000 metres? Never was and never will be. All glaciers are above 5,000 metres in Peru. It also the level where any vegetation stops growing..
There're 2 general categories of factors affecting people's lives --- human interactions, and environmental interactions. They're interrelated in intricate and complex ways. You have commented only on human interaction factors.
As far as the glacier starting level, whether it's 5,000 or 10,000 meters does not invalidate the undeniable physical evidence that mountain glaciers on ALL 7 CONTINENTS are melting fast (in geological time scales). Mountain glaciers for millenia have determined the waterflow (rivers) patterns. All agrarian communities, the majority of human settlements, are along rivers and continental coastal waters. When mountain river sources rapidly disappear, and ocean levels rapidly rise, the majority of human communities will be torn apart. Human settlements by the hundreds of millions, even billions around the globe, would be scurrying around frantically like rats on a sinking ship, looking for safe places to survive. That means wars, conflicts, riots, communal suicides (communal wars are a form of mass psychoses leading to mass suicides), droughts where there used to be water (Dafur), torrential rains, floods and hurricanes (New Orleans) would overwhelm cities and regions, warm dessicated regions would go up in flames (California), coastal metropolitan cities would be submerged by rising ocean level, food would be scarce, summer heat would be intolerable heatwaves, . . . all predictable patterns.
In light of such dire prospects, it would be CRIMINAL negligence and complicity, and the height of infantile stupidity to focus debate on the starting level of mountain glaciers, or call global warming hoax.
Per capita, Peruvians do more than their share of carbon production. Start from the individual citizens who burn their garbage along the roadside, then move to the mines that are polluting their waters. And industry?
Tell me, Helena! When was the last time you were in Lima? Or any other large town/city in Peru? I, for one, couldn't breathe!
I appreciate what Oxfam is trying to do, but isn't everyone and ALL countries responsible for our climate crisis? Peru is not the innocent victim in this global problem!