Move Back
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This photo combo of satellite images provided by the USGS shows Lake Poopo filled with water on Oct, 11, 1986, left, and almost dry on Jan. 16, 2016, right, in Bolivia. As Andean glaciers disappear so do the sources of Poopos water. Along with glacial melting, authorities say another factor is the diversion of water from Poopos tributaries, mostly for mining but also for agriculture. (USGS via AP)![Bolivia_Evaporated_Lake__4_]()
In this Jan. 16, 2016, aerial photo, shows a flock of flamingos on the surface of Lake Poopo, Bolivia. Declared free on any birdlife since it dried up on December 2015, recent rains filled a small part of the lake, bringing back flamingos from the nearby Uru Uru lake (AP Photo/Juan Karita)![Bolivia_Evaporated_Lake__11_]()
In this Jan. 12, 2016 photo, a fisherman walks along the abandoned boats in the dried up Lake Poopo, on the outskirts of Untavi, Bolivia. As Andean glaciers disappear so do the sources of Poopos water. But other factors are in play in the demise of Bolivias second-largest body of water behind Lake Titicaca. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)![Bolivia_Evaporated_Lake__3_]()
In this Jan. 16, 2016 photo, a plane flies over the dry lake bed of Lake Poopo, Bolivia. The El Nino weather phonomenon has inflicted periodic droughts on Poopo for millennia and last struck this hard in 1997-98. But over the past three decades unprecedented stress has befallen a fragile ecosystem where 83 percent of rainfall evaporates. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)![Bolivia_Evaporated_Lake__10_]()
In this Jan. 11, 2016 photo, a fisherman walks along the abandoned boats in the dried up Lake Poopo, on the outskirts of Untavi, Bolivia. The overturned fishing skiffs lie abandoned on the dried up former shores of what was Bolivias second-largest lake. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)![Bolivia_Evaporated_Lake__6_]()
In this Jan. 12, 2016 photo, fisherman Cirilo Choque, carries a ladder on his bicycle, as he walks to his job as bricklayer in Untavi, near the shores of Lake Poopo, Bolivia. "We are really worried because the lake dried up and that the authorities have not helped. Hopefully they will really help us. Before the lake dried up there were about 200 families living here, now only about 70 are left. Most are elderly people or children, the others left to find jobs in the city or other places." said Choque. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)![Bolivia_Evaporated_Lake__8_]()
In this Jan. 12, 2016 photo, Abraham Fulguera checks his abandoned fishing net in Lake Poopo, on the outskirts of Untavi, Bolivia. Poopo is now down to 2 percent of what was normal, regional Gov. Victor Hugo Vasquez calculates. Its maximum depth once reached 16 feet. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)![Bolivia_Evaporated_Lake__2_]()
This Jan. 16, 2016, aerial photo, shows a flock of flamingos on the surface of Lake Poopo, Bolivia. Declared free on any birdlife since it dried up on December 2015, recent rains filled a small part of the lake, bringing back flamingos from the nearby Uru Uru lake (AP Photo/Juan Karita)![Bolivia_Evaporated_Lake__7_]()
In this Jan. 12, 2016 photo, an abandoned boat lies on the dried up lake bed of Lake Poopo, on the outskirts of Untavi, Bolivia. Environmentalists and local activists say the government mismanaged the lake's fragile water resources and ignored rampant pollution from mining, Bolivias second export earner after natural gas. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)![Bolivia_Evaporated_Lake__5_]()
In this Jan. 16, 2016 aerial photo, shows a view of Lake Poopo, Bolivia. High on Bolivias semi-arid Andean plains at 3,700 meters (2.3 miles) and long subject to climatic whims, the shallow saline lake has dried up before, most recently in the 1940s, only to rebound to an area twice the size of Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)![Bolivia_Evaporated_Lake__9_]()
In this Jan. 12, 2016 photo, Abraham Fulguera shows his fisherman's credential, in the dried up Lake Poopo, on the outskirts of Untavi, Bolivia. "I am the president of the September 10 Fishing Cooperative. We used to be 30 fishermen and there used to be ten or more fishing cooperatives in Lake Poopo. Now we work as construction laborers. Others have left to look for jobs. I hope we do not become a ghost town. We have faith that the lake will come back." Fulguera said. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)![Bolivia_Evaporated_Lake__12_]()
Bolivia's Lake Poopo has all but disappeared
High on Bolivia's semi-arid Andean plains at 3,700 meters (more than 12,000 feet) and long subject to climatic whims, the shallow saline lake has essentially dried up before only to rebound to twice the area of Los Angeles.
Move Forward
- Bolivia's Lake Poopo has all but disappeared
