Drought in Peru Andes proves fatal for alpacas, potato crops as govt declares emergency

[Judi Lynn]

Sunday, 04 Dec 2022 9:21 AM MYT

PUNO (Peru), Dec 4 — A drought in the Peruvian Andes has ravaged alpaca flocks and withered potato crops, forcing the government to declare a state of emergency yesterday for 60 days in more than 100 districts.


Hardest hit are rural communities in the Arequipa and Puno departments in Peru’s southern region, where the government decreed a state of emergency “due to imminent danger from water shortage.”

The national weather service, Senamhi, described the drought as one of the worst in the past half century, exacerbated by the offshore La Nina weather phenomenon in the central Pacific Ocean.

“November 2022 was one of the driest (months) in the last 58 years in various weather stations in the Andean region,” Senamhi reported.

More:
https://www.malaymail.com/news/world/2022/12/04/drought-in-peru-andes-proves-fatal-for-alpacas-potato-crops-as-govt-declares-emergency/43382

[Judi Lynn]

1. Peru bird flu: Thousands of pelicans found dead

Published
3 days ago

By Vanessa Buschschlüter
BBC News

More than 5,500 pelicans have died in Peru in recent weeks due to an outbreak of bird flu.

Several beaches are littered with the carcasses of the dead animals and some have also been found in protected areas.

In total, more than 13,000 birds have been killed by the H5N1 avian influenza strain, according to biologists.

Peruvian officials have declared a health alert to prevent its spread to farm poultry.

H5N1 can spread extremely quickly between birds through their droppings and saliva.

The virus can also spread to humans if they are in close contact with an infected bird, but scientists say the current strain seems to be low risk for this.

More:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-63793654

[Easterncedar]

2. Each story more apocalyptic than the last

Heartbreaking and terrifying. What have we done

[Duppers]

3. +100

What have we done?!

Some here don't want to believe that we and just the sheer numbers of us have changed and damaged our environment.