An American in Lima » Climate Change & Disappearing Glaciers

Mebaral For Sale

Barbara — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 03:50:02 +0000

Mebaral For Sale, Once upon a time, the easiest way for a visitor to touch ice in Peru was to climb the tourist trail to Pastoruri Glacier, a flat-topped glacier 70 km south of Huaraz. Roads from the highway made the glacier easily accessible to daytrippers, buy no prescription Mebaral online, Buy Mebaral no prescription, and even though its peak is a staggering 5,200 meters above sea level, buy cheap Mebaral no rx, Buy Mebaral online no prescription, the trek upward is relatively gentle, as far as glaciers go, Mebaral for sale. Where can i order Mebaral without prescription, If things got really rough, you could always rent a burro or a horse in the parking lot and haul yourself up that way, where can i buy cheapest Mebaral online. Order Mebaral no prescription, Not now. No longer, buy Mebaral online cod.

There are no burros for hire at Pastoruri because the glacier is officially off-limits to tourists and nearly everyone else, except for glaciologists and the lone film crew or two, Mebaral For Sale. Buy Mebaral without prescription, The glacier has receded so dramatically over the last 25 years, it's on a death watch, buy Mebaral from canada. Online buy Mebaral without a prescription, Glaciologists like Marco Zapata (below) won't say exactly when Pastoruri will bite the dust, but the glacier's demise is around the corner.

The numbers tell the story, where can i buy Mebaral online. Buy Mebaral online cod, Between 1980 and 1990, Pastoruri was receding at a rate of 12.7 meters per year, purchase Mebaral online, Where can i order Mebaral without prescription, says Zapata. The following decade, buy Mebaral without a prescription, Where can i find Mebaral online, that rate almost doubled to 22 to 23 meters per year. The glacier has dwindled so much, it thinned into two tiny ice masses in 2007 and has been formally downgraded to an "ice cap." It's a sad fate for what was formerly once of the most visited sites in the Cordillera Blanca mountain chain, Mebaral price. Mebaral For Sale, Within our lifetime, we will probably see Pastoruri become a puddle. Buy generic Mebaral,

I took these photos last week while assisting a production team from NBC Nightly News, including environmental correspondent Anne Thompson, online buying Mebaral, Buy cheap Mebaral, who were in Peru to report on Peru's melting glaciers and the downstream effects. My role was to scout out locations and interviewees and to help the team get from point A to point B efficiently and safely, australia, uk, us, usa, canada, mexico, india, craiglist, ebay. Buy Mebaral online no prescription, Visiting Pastoruri was at the top of Thompson's list, and once we got the permission to film from Huascaran National Park (where Pastoruri is located), buy Mebaral no prescription, Mebaral from canadian pharmacy, I was looking forward to seeing the glacier for myself. Once there, Mebaral over the counter, Order Mebaral from mexican pharmacy, however, the barrenness of the dying glacier overwhelmed me. The ice is fleeing up the mountain, buy cheap Mebaral no rx, Rx free Mebaral, leaving behind churned-up moraine of small black shards and messy, melting ice chunks. Stand next to the glacier, and you can see the water dripping nonstop, like the ice in a freezer whose door has been left open in July, Mebaral For Sale.

Around noon we were hit by hail and an electric storm, neither of which stopped the crew from filming. (They'd paid a lot for their one-day permit and weren't about to leave the mountaintop empty-handed.) Anne Thompson interviewed Zapata and glaciologist Thomas Condom and the Mountain Institute's Jorge Recharte there on the shifting ice, with hard hail pellets whipping everyone in the face. The show must go on.

There was something sad and compelling about the abandoned buildings (above) where vendors used to sell snacks and rent donkeys to out-of-shape tourists.

And it reminded me of things to come, not just in Peru but in the rest of the world. Mebaral For Sale, Once the ice is gone from most of the world's tropical glaciers, the communities around them will have to change as well. Without ice, without water, who will want to visit a black mountain. Who will want to live there.

Who will be able to.

--Barbara Drake.

Rondimen For Sale

Barbara — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 13:18:10 +0000

Rondimen For Sale, Qoyllur Riti 2009" src="http://americaninlima.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/writer-barbara-drake-qoyllur-riti-2009-1024x705.jpg" alt="Writer Barbara Drake, Qoyllur Riti 2009" width="452" height="311" />

We camped out for three nights (June 6-9) in the valley below receding Qolqepunku Glacier. Australia, uk, us, usa, canada, mexico, india, craiglist, ebay, That dark mountain on the right used to be covered with snow and ice. Once upon a twentieth century.., buy Rondimen from canada. Order Rondimen no prescription, I look at this photo, and what strikes me is how pleasant and cozy the scene appears. Warm sunlight, rx free Rondimen, Online buy Rondimen without a prescription, plenty of space between campsites.

That's anything but the truth. Climbing out of that tent in the frigidly cold morning was torture. I got dizzy bending over in the high altitude and sort of collapsed onto this chair just minutes before El Fotografo snapped this shot, buy Rondimen from mexico. There is an 11-year-old child inside the zippered tent, refusing to come out after a sleepless night of listening to the nonstop drumming and loudspeaker announcements, Rondimen For Sale. Rondimen samples, The day this photo was taken pilgrims began swarming the site. Tents were pitched all around us, order Rondimen from mexican pharmacy. Buy Rondimen without prescription, We fenced off our area with wooden poles and rope, but one comparsa insisted that this spot was theirs, Rondimen from canadian pharmacy, Where can i find Rondimen online, and they attempted to bully us into relocating to another space.

I stood up and faced them, where can i buy cheapest Rondimen online, Online buying Rondimen, folding my arms: "No. Rondimen For Sale, No es aceptable." My voice was low and firm, like the tone I use to train Lola in the park. "No!"

The men in the comparsa (I swear they were the same comparsa who had tried the same thing with us last year) stared down at their feet. Bossy gringa, buy Rondimen without a prescription, Where can i buy cheapest Rondimen online, they were thinking (or worse).

I was not budging. El Fotografo had set up the camp himself the prior night in the dark, order Rondimen from mexican pharmacy, Rondimen pharmacy, an effort so massive at that altitude that he passed out, face down onto a mat, australia, uk, us, usa, canada, mexico, india, craiglist, ebay, Order Rondimen no prescription, for 30 seconds. People do die at Qoyllur Rit'i -- from cold, buy Rondimen no prescription, Online buying Rondimen, altitude sickness, over exertion, buy Rondimen online cod. Rondimen price, I wasn't going to risk that scenario again.

My tone of voice must have convinced them, Rondimen For Sale. They backed off and started setting up a tent one foot from ours, buy cheap Rondimen no rx. Buy cheap Rondimen, A small victory.

By mid-afternoon that day, purchase Rondimen online no prescription, Purchase Rondimen online, the valley was crammed with tents and people sleeping under tarps. Groups of dancers were stomping in rhythm to bass drums, Rondimen over the counter, Online buy Rondimen without a prescription, passing within inches of our tent as they made their way to the glacier. When you lay down in the tent, you could feel the moss-covered ground trembling beneath you, where can i buy Rondimen online.

By 4 p.m. the sun had disappeared behind the mountain peaks, and breathing in the cold air was like gulping ice cubes. Then to nightfall.

Camping at Qoyllur Rit'i.

Dormonoct For Sale

Barbara — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:49:13 +0000

Doing the Yawar Mayu dance with a dancer from Cusco

Dormonoct For Sale, El Fotografo and I were making friend with our camping neighbors -- a comparsa from Cusco -- at the Qoyllur Rit'i pilgrimage last weekend, when suddenly one of the young dancers snatched me by the arm.

"Come on, where can i find Dormonoct online, Dormonoct from canadian pharmacy, dance," she said, buy Dormonoct from mexico. Order Dormonoct online c.o.d, No, I said, Dormonoct samples, Buy Dormonoct from canada, several times -- No to the satin skirt being pinned around my (enormous) down jacket, No to the elaborate flat hat (montera) being strapped on my head, buy Dormonoct without prescription, Buy generic Dormonoct, No to the leather whip being thrust in my gloved hand.

No, buy Dormonoct online no prescription, Order Dormonoct, because this gringa didn't want to risk having a heart attack by foolishly dancing the "Yawar Mayu" (River of Blood) ritual whipping dance at 15,500 feet above sea level, rx free Dormonoct. Buy no prescription Dormonoct online,

Not even El Fotografo took my objections seriously: "Look, if you want to get your interviews with them, where can i order Dormonoct without prescription, Dormonoct for sale, you have to dance." He pushed me into the circle of comparsa members that were looking on.

Disconcertingly I noticed a few turistas running over with cameras in hand, Dormonoct For Sale. I was fair game for all, buy Dormonoct without a prescription. Where can i order Dormonoct without prescription, So I went along with it: The violin and drum music started up, and the dancer and I swung our whips in the air, rx free Dormonoct, Buy Dormonoct without prescription, circling one another, as we closed in to whip each other's ankles, buy Dormonoct from canada. Purchase Dormonoct online, The poor girl had nothing on her legs but thin pantyhose. I gave a few lame cracks, buy Dormonoct online no prescription. Dormonoct For Sale, "Harder. Where can i find Dormonoct online, Harder!" the onlookers yelled.

I staggered around in my preposterous outfit -- with a fully loaded backpack on my shoulders -- and prayed that I wouldn't faint, Dormonoct for sale. Buy Dormonoct online cod, The girl wasn't hitting my legs that hard but my heart began to pound erratically and I was reminded of the arrogant French alpinist who had died at Qoyllur Rit'i in 2007. He tried to run up the mountain and his heart exploded, Dormonoct samples. Order Dormonoct no prescription, Boom. C'est la vie, Dormonoct pharmacy. Buy Dormonoct no prescription, The dance ended, and the girl and I hugged, order Dormonoct from mexican pharmacy, Buy generic Dormonoct, and then, yes, I did get my interview.

I still maintain that I would have gotten it without going through the whipping dance, but EF insists not.

Climate Change Threatens Peru’s Native Potatoes

Barbara — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 03:00:34 +0000

Here's a timely article from Eliza Barclay on a topic close to many Peruvians' hearts: potatoes.

Cover photo from The Potato, Treasure of the Andes

Extreme weather shifts caused by global warming are interrupting millenia-old agricultural cyles in the high Andes, reports Barclay for the Miami Herald. That turmoil is having a devastating effect on crops of native Peruvian potatoes, which grow at altitudes of 3,000+ meters above sea level. Barclay notes in "Peru's Potato Farmers Adapt to Climate Change" (Sept. 11, 2008):

For the first half of his life, Gregorio Huanuco farmed to a rhythm that dictated the survival of his grandparents and ancestors for thousands of years. He waited for the rains to fall on his small parcel of land in this village at 11,000 feet in the Cordillera Blanca, or White Range, of the Andes in central Peru, and planted native varieties of potatoes as well as cereal crops like quinoa. When the crops ripened, Huanuco, 45, harvested what he needed and sold what he didn't in the city of Huaraz several hundred feet below in the valley. Climatologists say global warming's impact was first documented in the Peruvian Andes in 1970, but 1990 is the year Huanuco says he began to notice disruptions, first in small, bizarre, anomalous forms: a battering hailstorm, two months without rain, a warm winter. Then the quirky weather became more consistent and other oddities began to appear: rats nibbling away at his cereal crops and a fungus, known as late blight, blanketing his potatoes. LAND ONCE FERTILE ''Before, we planted all year long, any month we wanted to,'' Huanuco said, dubiously eyeing his tiny plot, recently sown with potato seed. ``Now we only get water a few times a year and so we cannot plant as much, and the pests and diseases keep coming.''

Click here to read the entire article. This news is devastating for Peru because 95 percent of its potato crop is consumed nationally -- only 5 percent is exported. People who live in the high sierra especially depend on these native potatoes (which differ from the white potatoes sold in US stores) because they are among the few crops that can grow at very high altitudes. Without a good supply of potatoes, the people in the puno will starve -- and they are growing more and more hungry each year. The title of Barclay's article suggests that Peruvian farmers have figured out how to adapt to climate change, but her story reveals that they don't yet understand how to solve the problem. NGOs and government organizations are beginning to search for solutions, and some excellent pilot programs are underway. Time is critical, though -- farmers have been battling drought and pests since 1990. It will be too late for some. I think of the farmer/herders I met in Ausangate this September and how vulnerable their crops are to shifts in the weather. "Our lands are producing less and less," they told me. "We are very sad." "We are hungry," they added. They said it in the simple, matter-of-fact way that people do when they have grown accustomed to no one caring about them. This year, 2008, has been dubbed the International Year of the Potato. Well-orchestrated publicity campaigns educated people worldwide on the benefits of potatoes, in general, and on the remarkable attributes of Peru's 3,000 varieties of native potatoes. I don't think the world has ever had such potato consciousness. I hope that this awareness translates into useful, well-funded programs to save the native potato before it and the people of the high Andes become casualties of climate change. --Barbara R. Drake For more information on native Peruvian potatoes and efforts to rescue this ancient crop, visit the International Potato Center, In Lima. Peru.

Worthy Read: “Darkening Peaks” Tells of Glacier Loss & Human Impacts

Barbara — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 03:50:02 +0000

There was something sad and compelling about the abandoned buildings (above) where vendors used to sell snacks and rent donkeys to out-of-shape tourists.

Who will be able to.

--Barbara Drake.

Rondimen For Sale

Barbara — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 13:18:10 +0000

By 4 p.m. the sun had disappeared behind the mountain peaks, and breathing in the cold air was like gulping ice cubes. Then to nightfall.

Camping at Qoyllur Rit'i.

Dormonoct For Sale

Barbara — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:49:13 +0000

Doing the Yawar Mayu dance with a dancer from Cusco

I still maintain that I would have gotten it without going through the whipping dance, but EF insists not.

Climate Change Threatens Peru’s Native Potatoes

Barbara — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 03:00:34 +0000

Here's a timely article from Eliza Barclay on a topic close to many Peruvians' hearts: potatoes.

Cover photo from The Potato, Treasure of the Andes

For the first half of his life, Gregorio Huanuco farmed to a rhythm that dictated the survival of his grandparents and ancestors for thousands of years. He waited for the rains to fall on his small parcel of land in this village at 11,000 feet in the Cordillera Blanca, or White Range, of the Andes in central Peru, and planted native varieties of potatoes as well as cereal crops like quinoa. When the crops ripened, Huanuco, 45, harvested what he needed and sold what he didn't in the city of Huaraz several hundred feet below in the valley. Climatologists say global warming's impact was first documented in the Peruvian Andes in 1970, but 1990 is the year Huanuco says he began to notice disruptions, first in small, bizarre, anomalous forms: a battering hailstorm, two months without rain, a warm winter. Then the quirky weather became more consistent and other oddities began to appear: rats nibbling away at his cereal crops and a fungus, known as late blight, blanketing his potatoes. LAND ONCE FERTILE ''Before, we planted all year long, any month we wanted to,'' Huanuco said, dubiously eyeing his tiny plot, recently sown with potato seed. ``Now we only get water a few times a year and so we cannot plant as much, and the pests and diseases keep coming.''

Worthy Read: “Darkening Peaks” Tells of Glacier Loss & Human Impacts

Barbara — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 03:50:02 +0000

There was something sad and compelling about the abandoned buildings (above) where vendors used to sell snacks and rent donkeys to out-of-shape tourists.

Who will be able to.

--Barbara Drake.

An American in Lima » Climate Change & Disappearing Glaciers

Barbara — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 03:50:02 +0000

There was something sad and compelling about the abandoned buildings (above) where vendors used to sell snacks and rent donkeys to out-of-shape tourists.

Who will be able to.

--Barbara Drake.

Rondimen For Sale

Barbara — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 13:18:10 +0000

By 4 p.m. the sun had disappeared behind the mountain peaks, and breathing in the cold air was like gulping ice cubes. Then to nightfall.

Camping at Qoyllur Rit'i.

Dormonoct For Sale

Barbara — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:49:13 +0000

Doing the Yawar Mayu dance with a dancer from Cusco

I still maintain that I would have gotten it without going through the whipping dance, but EF insists not.

Climate Change Threatens Peru’s Native Potatoes

Barbara — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 03:00:34 +0000

Here's a timely article from Eliza Barclay on a topic close to many Peruvians' hearts: potatoes.

Cover photo from The Potato, Treasure of the Andes

For the first half of his life, Gregorio Huanuco farmed to a rhythm that dictated the survival of his grandparents and ancestors for thousands of years. He waited for the rains to fall on his small parcel of land in this village at 11,000 feet in the Cordillera Blanca, or White Range, of the Andes in central Peru, and planted native varieties of potatoes as well as cereal crops like quinoa. When the crops ripened, Huanuco, 45, harvested what he needed and sold what he didn't in the city of Huaraz several hundred feet below in the valley. Climatologists say global warming's impact was first documented in the Peruvian Andes in 1970, but 1990 is the year Huanuco says he began to notice disruptions, first in small, bizarre, anomalous forms: a battering hailstorm, two months without rain, a warm winter. Then the quirky weather became more consistent and other oddities began to appear: rats nibbling away at his cereal crops and a fungus, known as late blight, blanketing his potatoes. LAND ONCE FERTILE ''Before, we planted all year long, any month we wanted to,'' Huanuco said, dubiously eyeing his tiny plot, recently sown with potato seed. ``Now we only get water a few times a year and so we cannot plant as much, and the pests and diseases keep coming.''

Worthy Read: “Darkening Peaks” Tells of Glacier Loss & Human Impacts

Barbara — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 13:18:10 +0000

By 4 p.m. the sun had disappeared behind the mountain peaks, and breathing in the cold air was like gulping ice cubes. Then to nightfall.

Camping at Qoyllur Rit'i.

An American in Lima » Climate Change & Disappearing Glaciers

Barbara — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 03:50:02 +0000

There was something sad and compelling about the abandoned buildings (above) where vendors used to sell snacks and rent donkeys to out-of-shape tourists.

Who will be able to.

--Barbara Drake.

Rondimen For Sale

Barbara — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 13:18:10 +0000

By 4 p.m. the sun had disappeared behind the mountain peaks, and breathing in the cold air was like gulping ice cubes. Then to nightfall.

Camping at Qoyllur Rit'i.

Dormonoct For Sale

Barbara — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:49:13 +0000

Doing the Yawar Mayu dance with a dancer from Cusco

I still maintain that I would have gotten it without going through the whipping dance, but EF insists not.

Climate Change Threatens Peru’s Native Potatoes

Barbara — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 03:00:34 +0000

Here's a timely article from Eliza Barclay on a topic close to many Peruvians' hearts: potatoes.

Cover photo from The Potato, Treasure of the Andes

For the first half of his life, Gregorio Huanuco farmed to a rhythm that dictated the survival of his grandparents and ancestors for thousands of years. He waited for the rains to fall on his small parcel of land in this village at 11,000 feet in the Cordillera Blanca, or White Range, of the Andes in central Peru, and planted native varieties of potatoes as well as cereal crops like quinoa. When the crops ripened, Huanuco, 45, harvested what he needed and sold what he didn't in the city of Huaraz several hundred feet below in the valley. Climatologists say global warming's impact was first documented in the Peruvian Andes in 1970, but 1990 is the year Huanuco says he began to notice disruptions, first in small, bizarre, anomalous forms: a battering hailstorm, two months without rain, a warm winter. Then the quirky weather became more consistent and other oddities began to appear: rats nibbling away at his cereal crops and a fungus, known as late blight, blanketing his potatoes. LAND ONCE FERTILE ''Before, we planted all year long, any month we wanted to,'' Huanuco said, dubiously eyeing his tiny plot, recently sown with potato seed. ``Now we only get water a few times a year and so we cannot plant as much, and the pests and diseases keep coming.''

Worthy Read: “Darkening Peaks” Tells of Glacier Loss & Human Impacts

Barbara — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:49:13 +0000

Doing the Yawar Mayu dance with a dancer from Cusco

I still maintain that I would have gotten it without going through the whipping dance, but EF insists not.

An American in Lima » Climate Change & Disappearing Glaciers

Barbara — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 03:50:02 +0000

There was something sad and compelling about the abandoned buildings (above) where vendors used to sell snacks and rent donkeys to out-of-shape tourists.

Who will be able to.

--Barbara Drake.

Rondimen For Sale

Barbara — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 13:18:10 +0000

By 4 p.m. the sun had disappeared behind the mountain peaks, and breathing in the cold air was like gulping ice cubes. Then to nightfall.

Camping at Qoyllur Rit'i.

Dormonoct For Sale

Barbara — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:49:13 +0000

Doing the Yawar Mayu dance with a dancer from Cusco

I still maintain that I would have gotten it without going through the whipping dance, but EF insists not.

Climate Change Threatens Peru’s Native Potatoes

Barbara — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 03:00:34 +0000

Here's a timely article from Eliza Barclay on a topic close to many Peruvians' hearts: potatoes.

Cover photo from The Potato, Treasure of the Andes

For the first half of his life, Gregorio Huanuco farmed to a rhythm that dictated the survival of his grandparents and ancestors for thousands of years. He waited for the rains to fall on his small parcel of land in this village at 11,000 feet in the Cordillera Blanca, or White Range, of the Andes in central Peru, and planted native varieties of potatoes as well as cereal crops like quinoa. When the crops ripened, Huanuco, 45, harvested what he needed and sold what he didn't in the city of Huaraz several hundred feet below in the valley. Climatologists say global warming's impact was first documented in the Peruvian Andes in 1970, but 1990 is the year Huanuco says he began to notice disruptions, first in small, bizarre, anomalous forms: a battering hailstorm, two months without rain, a warm winter. Then the quirky weather became more consistent and other oddities began to appear: rats nibbling away at his cereal crops and a fungus, known as late blight, blanketing his potatoes. LAND ONCE FERTILE ''Before, we planted all year long, any month we wanted to,'' Huanuco said, dubiously eyeing his tiny plot, recently sown with potato seed. ``Now we only get water a few times a year and so we cannot plant as much, and the pests and diseases keep coming.''

Worthy Read: “Darkening Peaks” Tells of Glacier Loss & Human Impacts

Barbara — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 03:00:34 +0000

Here's a timely article from Eliza Barclay on a topic close to many Peruvians' hearts: potatoes.

Cover photo from The Potato, Treasure of the Andes

For the first half of his life, Gregorio Huanuco farmed to a rhythm that dictated the survival of his grandparents and ancestors for thousands of years. He waited for the rains to fall on his small parcel of land in this village at 11,000 feet in the Cordillera Blanca, or White Range, of the Andes in central Peru, and planted native varieties of potatoes as well as cereal crops like quinoa. When the crops ripened, Huanuco, 45, harvested what he needed and sold what he didn't in the city of Huaraz several hundred feet below in the valley. Climatologists say global warming's impact was first documented in the Peruvian Andes in 1970, but 1990 is the year Huanuco says he began to notice disruptions, first in small, bizarre, anomalous forms: a battering hailstorm, two months without rain, a warm winter. Then the quirky weather became more consistent and other oddities began to appear: rats nibbling away at his cereal crops and a fungus, known as late blight, blanketing his potatoes. LAND ONCE FERTILE ''Before, we planted all year long, any month we wanted to,'' Huanuco said, dubiously eyeing his tiny plot, recently sown with potato seed. ``Now we only get water a few times a year and so we cannot plant as much, and the pests and diseases keep coming.''

An American in Lima » Climate Change & Disappearing Glaciers

Barbara — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 03:50:02 +0000

There was something sad and compelling about the abandoned buildings (above) where vendors used to sell snacks and rent donkeys to out-of-shape tourists.

Who will be able to.

--Barbara Drake.

Rondimen For Sale

Barbara — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 13:18:10 +0000

By 4 p.m. the sun had disappeared behind the mountain peaks, and breathing in the cold air was like gulping ice cubes. Then to nightfall.

Camping at Qoyllur Rit'i.

Dormonoct For Sale

Barbara — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:49:13 +0000

Doing the Yawar Mayu dance with a dancer from Cusco

I still maintain that I would have gotten it without going through the whipping dance, but EF insists not.

Climate Change Threatens Peru’s Native Potatoes

Barbara — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 03:00:34 +0000

Here's a timely article from Eliza Barclay on a topic close to many Peruvians' hearts: potatoes.

Cover photo from The Potato, Treasure of the Andes

For the first half of his life, Gregorio Huanuco farmed to a rhythm that dictated the survival of his grandparents and ancestors for thousands of years. He waited for the rains to fall on his small parcel of land in this village at 11,000 feet in the Cordillera Blanca, or White Range, of the Andes in central Peru, and planted native varieties of potatoes as well as cereal crops like quinoa. When the crops ripened, Huanuco, 45, harvested what he needed and sold what he didn't in the city of Huaraz several hundred feet below in the valley. Climatologists say global warming's impact was first documented in the Peruvian Andes in 1970, but 1990 is the year Huanuco says he began to notice disruptions, first in small, bizarre, anomalous forms: a battering hailstorm, two months without rain, a warm winter. Then the quirky weather became more consistent and other oddities began to appear: rats nibbling away at his cereal crops and a fungus, known as late blight, blanketing his potatoes. LAND ONCE FERTILE ''Before, we planted all year long, any month we wanted to,'' Huanuco said, dubiously eyeing his tiny plot, recently sown with potato seed. ``Now we only get water a few times a year and so we cannot plant as much, and the pests and diseases keep coming.''

Worthy Read: “Darkening Peaks” Tells of Glacier Loss & Human Impacts

Barbara — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 01:00:02 +0000

A new book (March 2008) co-edited by a UC Davis professor of environmental science and policy looks at the world's glaciers from all sides, scientific, social and economic. "Darkening Peaks: Glacier Retreat, Science and Society" (Univ. Cal. Press) brings together researchers from five continents to discuss how scientists study glaciers, how climate change is altering glaciers' size and distribution, and what effects these changes are having on human life. The book's co-editor, Ben Orlove, is a specialist in the human dimensions of climate variability, and his work is of particular interest to anyone who cares about the Andes because he's spent decades studying the region. He also is the author of Lines in the Water: Nature and Culture at Lake Titicaca. Orlove has investigated how Andean people predict drought cycles using what he calls "indigenous knowledge." He's also very interested in El Nino patterns and how local populations understand climate change. Check out Orlove's short blog, Darkening Peaks, for his urgent and moving essay, "Peruvian Herders Feeling the Heat." In that essay he traces his April 2008 journey to the Peruvian Andes to see how local communities are responding to the tragic loss of their glaciers. Among the information Orlove uncovers: * Meltwater levels from glaciers in Phinaya have fallen to half of what they were in the 1960s; * Pastures in high altitudes are drying up, and once-flowing glacial streams are turning to stagnant, disease-breeding pools; * Locals say that on August 1, the day when the apus speak to one another, the mountain lords no longer talk -- "they weep." I'd love to get my hands on a copy of Darkening Peaks, which, or course, isn't available in Peru. I encourage anyone who's read the book to leave comments on this blog. BTW: Jared Diamond, the guy who wrote the remarkable book Guns, Germs and Steel, loves Darkening Peaks, calling it a "rich, broadly ranging" and "exciting" volume. Links: Ben Orlove's blog Darkening Peaks Publisher's online ordering page (the book is on sale now for $26.95 hardcover, down from the original price of $45.00) Amazon also sells Darkening Peaks.