Bolivia Floods and la Niña
Saturday, 16. February 2008, 10:38:09
For the third year on a row Bolivia is hit by heavy rain and floods caused by la Niña events. President Morales declared Bolivia's devastating floods a national disaster on Tuesday 12 February 2008. Heavy rain has been pouring down since November. Flooding across Bolivia's eastern lowlands has killed at least 60 people and affected some 60,000 families across the country. Floodwaters in some places have topped a raised highway protecting the provincial capital Trinidad home to some 90,000 people - a city plaza has been converted into refugee camp for people fleeing the town's flooded outskirts.
Land-locked Bolivia is the poorest country in South America and outside the main cities much of it is barren and inhospitable terrain. The rainfall during this year's rainy season may exceed last year's total by 50-100 centimetres. The rains have swept away crops and communication lines. Rivers have broken their banks. February is summer in Bolivia, and the rains have provoked concern among public health experts that the large standing pools of water could become breeding grounds for mosquitoes that could spread disease. The United Nations says the flooding is expected to get worse as more rain is forecast.
It is believed that higher ocean temperatures caused by global warming boost the amount of moisture in the air and cause the El Niño weather pattern - and its echo, La Niña - to occur more frequently and cause more intense climate disruptions. The current La Niña event, characterised by a cooling of the sea surface in the central and eastern Equatorial Pacific, has strengthened slightly in recent months and is expected to continue through the first quarter of 2008, with a likelihood of persisting until the middle of the year.
• http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7243970.stm
• http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2008/02/12/ap4645344.html
• http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americas/02/12/bolivia.flooding/index.html
• http://www.oxfam.org/en/news/2008/pr080214_bolivia_flooding
Land-locked Bolivia is the poorest country in South America and outside the main cities much of it is barren and inhospitable terrain. The rainfall during this year's rainy season may exceed last year's total by 50-100 centimetres. The rains have swept away crops and communication lines. Rivers have broken their banks. February is summer in Bolivia, and the rains have provoked concern among public health experts that the large standing pools of water could become breeding grounds for mosquitoes that could spread disease. The United Nations says the flooding is expected to get worse as more rain is forecast. It is believed that higher ocean temperatures caused by global warming boost the amount of moisture in the air and cause the El Niño weather pattern - and its echo, La Niña - to occur more frequently and cause more intense climate disruptions. The current La Niña event, characterised by a cooling of the sea surface in the central and eastern Equatorial Pacific, has strengthened slightly in recent months and is expected to continue through the first quarter of 2008, with a likelihood of persisting until the middle of the year.
• http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7243970.stm
• http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2008/02/12/ap4645344.html
• http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americas/02/12/bolivia.flooding/index.html
• http://www.oxfam.org/en/news/2008/pr080214_bolivia_flooding
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