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Climate Change & Disappearing Glaciers, Festivals, Sacred Rituals, Religion, Peru's Andes Mountains, Traditions + Rituals, Water
Three-faced Ukuku, Guardian of the Glacier
In Andean culture, ukukus represent mythical bear-men who guard the glaciers at Qoyllur Rit'i pilgrimage and assist in other village rituals. Each year, young men volunteer to serve as their village's ukukus and bring health and prosperity to the community. Jorge photographed this ukuku at the June 2006 Qoyllur Rit'i pilgrimage. They wear masks to protect themselves from the cold, but this ukuku was sporting one with three faces. In his hand, he holds a whip, used to fight the condemned souls who haunt the glacier and to punish pilgrims who drink alcohol at the festival, which is forbidden.
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“All Hail the Glacier Gods”: El Fotografo’s MSNBC Pix of Qoyllur Rit’i
Back in December, msnbc.com published a photo story on Qoyllur Rit’i and global warming, with photos by El Fotógrafo and captions by yours truly. I neglected to provide the link to that slide show, which includes some of EF’s strongest images of the dangerous (and endangered) glacier pilgrimage, so here it is, belatedly: “Peru’s Disappearing Holy Glacier.” This photo, above, of a veteran ukuku is one of my favorites. The guy must be about 40 years old, but exposure to the harsh Andean elements has made his face a craggy moraine field. Most of the ukukus at QR are in their late teens and early 20s; you don’t see a lot of…
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Video: “Peru’s future depends on mountains”
[Note: This MSNBC video is no longer available as of August 2020] Jorge Recharte, Andes program director for the Mountain Institute, eloquently explains the special bond between Peru’s people and her mountains. This relationship has shaped 5,000 years of culture in both the coast and the sierra and will determine Peru’s future, says Recharte in this video featured on msnbc.com: Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
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Video: In Peru, melting glaciers lead to water wars
Here is the link: In Peru, melting glaciers lead to water wars Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy The video aired on NBC Nightly News on December 8. I was the field producer for the NBC news team.
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Peru’s Melting Glaciers on NBC News Tonight, 6:30 p.m.
Tonight NBC Nightly News airs a special report on Peru’s melting glaciers and their downstream effects. (Click here for times and stations across the United States.) Tune in to see footage of dying Pastoruri Glacier and to hear correspondent Anne Thompson talk with experts on how Peru is struggling to adapt to a world without glaciers, a scenario that may be realized within the next quarter century. Kudos to the NBC environmental news team for bringing this important story to the attention of U.S. viewers during Copenhagen 15. What happening in Peru is dramatic evidence of the catastrophic effects of global warming and rapid climate change. And although people in North America…
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NBC Nightly News to Report on Peru’s Melting Glaciers and Water Crisis Next Week
A heads-up to viewers in the United States: My sources at NBC Nightly News tell me that an investigative report on Peru’s pending water crisis will air on the show next Tuesday, Dec. 8, at 6:30 p.m. EST in many states. (Click here for state-by-state air times.) NBC Nightly News crew films Anne Thompson’s interview with community leaders near Huaraz who are fighting to retain water rights (Oct. 2009) Environmental news correspondent Anne Thompson explores the accelerating retreat of tropical glaciers in Peru and the downstream effects of dwindling melt-water on agriculture, hydroelectricity and drinking water supplies for highlanders and coastal dwellers. Peru is among the three countries in the world most…
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Goodbye, Pastoruri
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, and even though its peak is a staggering 5,200 meters above sea level, the trek upward is relatively gentle, as far as glaciers go. If things got really rough, you could always rent a burro or a horse in the parking lot and haul yourself up that way. Not now. No longer. There are no burros for hire at Pastoruri because the glacier is officially off-limits to…
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Government Extends State of Emergency in 21 Regions; More Children to Die from Cold in August
[Photo: These two kids live near Upis in southern Peru, where children are dying of extreme cold brought on by climate change. More deaths are predicted for August, typically the coldest month of the year in the high Andes. Photo c. Barbara Drake 2008]Peru is finally acknowledging that the humanitarian crisis caused by extreme cold in the Andes isn’t going away; the problem is getting worse. A state of emergency declared by the Peruvian government in July has been extended two additional months in 21 Andean regions, reported Isabel Guerra yesterday in Living in Peru: The Peruvian government extended today for another 60 days the state of emergency in 21 regions, due…
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Peru’s Politicians Lock Horns with Scientists, Deny Crisis as Water Shortage Looms
Above: Ohio State glaciologist Lonnie Thompson gives two good reasons why loss of Peru’s glaciers is “alarming”; July 7 Adapting to a World without Glaciers, Lima (photo by Jorge Vera 2009) By Barbara R. Drake LIMA, PERU: Peru’s Minister of the Environment Antonio Brack Egg told international glacier experts and other climate specialists last week that Peru cannot be expected to avert the country’s pending water shortage on its own and that regional and local administrations must bear responsibility. Peruvian Minster of the Environment Antonio Brack Egg at Adapting to a World without Glaciers conference, July 7, 2009, Lima Peru (photo Jorge Vera 2009) “When we speak about these subjects…
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Photo of the Day: Callejón de Huaylas, Peru
El Fotografo took this shot during the drive to Huaraz last week. It's of the Callejón de Huaylas ("Alley of Huaylas"), a valley in the Ancash Region in the north-central highlands of Peru. Glaciers all along the mountains there are melting due to rapid climate change.
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Child’s Artwork in Huaraz: Care for Our Water & Air
We visited a school in Huaraz, where the children had created art works about the environment. Some showed melting glaciers, or apus -- mountain deities -- losing their "ponchos" (white snow). This child's picture depicts the need to care for our water and air.
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Sisters from Pucarumi — claimed by deadly cold spell?
Spoke to Alberto last night, our guide at Qoyllur Rit'i and around the Mount Ausangate area. He told El Fotografo and I that he's heard of six children under age 5 dying in his area (towns of Tinqui, Upis, Pacchanta) due to extreme cold snap. The BBC ran a story on this several days ago. I met many children on my trek around Ausangate last September. Lively kids who run around in thin sweaters and sandals made of rubber tires.
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Photo of the Day: Boats at Lake Llanganuco, Peru
We visited this lake in Huascaran National Park last Sunday. The turquoise-blue water is fed by glacier streams. Lots of trout in the lakes.
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Cemetery Dog, Buried City of Yungay, Peru
Dog at Yungay National Cemetery; Mount Huascaran in background (photo by Barbara Drake 2009) Last Sunday, El Fotógrafo, El Híjo and I toured the cemetery above the buried town of Yungay, about 30 miles north of Huaraz. We were with a group of scientists and historians taking part in a glacier adaptation conference, and there couldn’t have been a more stark reminder of nature’s destructive potential than to wander about this picturesque yet oppressive site — a place where nearly 20,000 souls perished in minutes from a massive avalanche that trapped them in mud, ice and rocks on May 31, 1970. Stuart of En Peru explains the catastrophe vividly. We stood on the uppermost tier of…
