1 Jan 2013

BOLIVIA / GLACIER MELT

With glaciers melting away, climate change already has become a fact of life for the poorest. Scientist use satellite technology to find ways to deal with dramatic water shortages in the Andean region. A slow and silent disaster that has started to affect millions. WORLD BANK

Posted at: January 1, 2013 12:20 am

Duration: 06:25

Available in: SD, HD

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Full script

STORY: BOLIVIA / GLACIER MELT
TRT: 6.25
SOURCE: WORLD BANK
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE:  SPANISH / NATS

DATELINE: DECEMBER 2012, BOLIVIA / FILE

SHOTLIST:

1. Pan left, from mountain lodge to man walking mountain path
2. Med shot, man walking
3. Med shot, man checking doors and windows of abandoned building
4. Close up, man checking window and walking into snow covered area
5. Close up, feet walking on rocks
6. Pan right, abandoned ski lift
7. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Gonzalo Jaimes, Small Business Owner:
"It's almost down to zero. I have no business, no work in this sector. We had to completely change our business. I, at least, had to sell the skis. I cannot use them any more."
8. Wide shot, mountain range
9. Wide shot, mountain plateau
10. Various shots, glacier
11. Wide shot, view of La Paz with mountain range
12. Close up, scientist pointing out retreating glacier on computer screen
13. Close up, computer screen
14. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Ed Ramirez, Researcher, Institute of Hydraulics and Hydrology, La Paz:
"We confirmed, for example, that there has been a 43 percent glacier surface area loss."
15. Close up, satellite receiver
16. Med shot, scientist adjusting receiver
17. Med shot, scientist adjusting receiver
18. Close up, satellite model
19. Close up, 3D computer animation of Andean mountain range
20. Med shot, two scientists with 3D glasses
21. Med shot, view from inside car driving through mountains
22. Med shot, passengers inside car
23. Wide shot, Jeep driving through desert-like plateau
24. Med shot, Japanese measuring station
25. Close up, Japanese weather measuring equipment
26. Wide shot, mountain lake
27. Med shot, scientist grabbing a buoy
28. Med shot, scientist checking equipment
29. Close up, scientist reading measurements
30. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Yuko Okamura, Scientist, Japanese International Cooperation Agency:
"This shows the water temperature at the Tuni Dam. Each sensor is at a one metre distance."
31. Pan right, men jumping over a creek in mountain range
32. Wide shot, people walking above a reservoir in mountain range
33. Med shot, freshwater canal in deserted landscape
34. Wide shot, freshwater canal with snow covered mountain in back
35. Tracking shot, view of dirt road from car roof
36. Tracking shot, car passing by bus
37. Wide shot, bus driving on mountain road
38. Med shot, diverted creek
39. Wide shot, farmer working in field
40. Close up, field plants and pick axe
41. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Tomas Quispe Cortez, Farmer:
"We could go somewhere else, that would be the best, but right now we need to work things out with the water source, because sometimes they cut us off."
42. Med shot, woman getting water from an outside tap
43. Pan left, from reservoir to woman
44. Pan left, from man to woman
45. Med shot, woman with sprinkler
46. Wide shot, La Paz residential area
47. Wide shot, La Paz high-rises
48. Wide shot, high rises
49. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Carlos Salinas, General Coordinator, the National Climate Change Program, Bolivia:
"These people are migrants. They are our first internal migrants because of the adverse effects of climate change. These are the first effects that we are experiencing from climate change and it logically carries a cost for our country. It has a cost because people are settling in the hills around the city or the city itself, and those people need basic services. Those people need drinking water, they need a sewage system."
50. Med shot, city worker removes ladder from car
51. Wide shot, dug up hole in street in El Alto
52. Close up, measuring instrument for water flow
53. Wide shot, worker with measuring equipment in dug up hole
54. Med shot, city worker standing beside hole
55. Wide shot, street in El Alto
56. Wide shot, kids and woman at a public faucet
57. Zoom out, blue plastic tub to woman washing clothes
58. Med shot, kids filling up bottles with water
59. Close up, wheelbarrow with water canisters being filled
60. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Jose Louis Mamani, President, El Alto Neighbourhood Association:
"On this side, 400 families live, and on this side 600 families live. And these 1000 families depend on this public faucet, which is not enough."
61. Wide shot, people standing on street
62. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Louisa Maria Rita Songo Resident of el Alto:
"For 15 years I have been asking for water. Till when? I hope we can get it."
63. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Elderly Man:
"We need water in our homes. Besides I have eye troubles, I can't see well. I'm not well. We need water. I need water urgently. I have no way of carrying it. I need water in my home, we need it at home. We need water urgently. We need water urgently."
64. Wide shot, La Paz skyline
65. Close up, computer screen with 3D mountain range

STORYLINE:

It seems as cold as ever on Chacaltaya Mountain, 16 thousand feet above sea level outside of Bolivia's capital La Paz.

Yet it is global warming that has brought disaster to business owner Gonzalo Jaimes. Once this was a ski resort with snow covered slopes all year round, but the glacier that coated this windswept mountainside with ice and snow has melted, leaving behind dry land and an abandoned ski lift.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Gonzalo Jaimes, Small Business Owner:
"It's almost down to zero. I have no business, no work in this sector. We had to completely change our business. I, at least, had to sell the skis. I cannot use them any more."

Tropical glaciers, like those in Bolivia, are more sensitive to temperature changes than glaciers outside the tropical boundaries. Their melting away is an alert signal for scientists around the world.

And for the millions living below they are primarily a vital source of water. When a glacier recedes, people's livelihoods are at stake.

Often disasters happen suddenly, without warning. This disaster has been in the making for decades.

Chacaltaya and the neighbouring Huayna Potosi glacier have receded over the course of 35 years.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Ed Ramirez, Researcher, Institute of Hydraulics and Hydrology, La Paz:
"We confirmed, for example, that there has been a 43 percent glacier surface area loss.

With support from the Japan Policy and Human Resources Development Fund, regional scientists have started using sophisticated technology to predict the rate of glacier retreat.

A Japanese satellite known as "Alos" helps create a high resolution stereoscopic image of the unfolding disaster. It's more accurate and less expensive than aerial photography.

When Bolivian researcher Ed Ramirez and his colleagues sport 3D glasses, they have a clearer vision of the region's future water supply.

But not everything can be done in the safety of the lab. The team makes a harrowing trip on Bolivia's high altitude mountain roads. Eight monitoring stations have been set up across four countries in the Andean region as part of the Japan Fund project.

But to get the full picture the team must go even further. Bobbing on freezing glacial water, they also measure temperatures at the very bottom of this mountain lake.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Yuko Okamura, Scientist, Japanese International Cooperation Agency:
"This shows the water temperature at the Tuni Dam. Each sensor is at a one metre distance."

With the scientist's data in hand, public officials can make better decisions. And they need to quickly.

A substantial part of Bolivia's population is already suffering from water shortages. Especially hard hit is the countryside.

Villages trying to cope with the problem often make the situation worse. Those upstream sometimes retain and divert too much water, leaving those below with little water left.

Farmer Tomas Quispe Cortez is seeing his potato and onion fields wither.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Tomas Quispe Cortez, Farmer:
"We could go somewhere else, that would be the best, but right now we need to work things out with the water source, because sometimes they cut us off."

One solution, supported by the World Bank administered Japan fund, is to help farmers like Fortunata Laura build individual reservoirs to catch rain water. Occasional rains help compensate for the dwindling supply of water coming off the mountain.

Better irrigation methods also help ride out the dry spells.

But it's not just agricultural areas that need help. The problem has also reached the city.

The populations of La Paz and the adjoining city of El Alto are swelling – in part with people who are abandoning their farms because of the worsening water shortages.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Carlos Salinas, General Coordinator, the National Climate Change Program, Bolivia:
"These people are migrants. They are our first internal migrants because of the adverse effects of climate change. These are the first effects that we are experiencing from climate change and whit logically carries a cost for our country. It has a cost because people are settling in the hills around the city or the city itself, and those people need basic services. Those people need drinking water, the need a sewer system."

The city has no alternative water sources – so they must conserve their dwindling supply.

As part of the Japan Fund project, crews measure and monitor the flow of water in order to identify problem areas caused by poor infrastructure or people illegally tapping into water pipes.

For this neighbourhood it's become a crisis situation.

Residents have to trudge daily to draw water from a single tap they must all share. Some wash their clothes here so they don't have to carry the water home. Others send their kids to fill jugs and bottles. Those who are old and sick come with wheelbarrows to carry water home.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Jose Louis Mamani, President, El Alto Neighbourhood Association:
"On this side, 400 families live, and on this side 600 families live. And these 1000 families depend on this public faucet, which is not enough."

Louisa Maria Rita Songo cries as she pleads for more water for herself and her ailing parents.  For 15 years she has been living here, relying on the one tap and on trucks that only deliver dirty water.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Louisa Maria Rita Songo Resident of el Alto:
"For 15 years I have been asking for water. Till when? I hope we can get it."

An elderly neighbour is equally distressed.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Elderly Man:
"We need water in our homes. Besides I have eye troubles, I can't see well. I'm not well. We need water. I need water urgently. I have no way of carrying it. I need water in my home, we need it at home. We need water urgently. We need water urgently."

Street view or satellite view, for scientists the perspective remains the same; it takes a global effort to deal with a fragile planet.