SANTIAGO, May 02 (IPS) - The drinking water supply in the southern island of Chiloé, one of Chile s rainiest areas, is threatened by damage to its peatlands, affected by sales of peat and by a series of electricity projects, especially wind farms.
QUILLOTA, Chile, Apr 30 (IPS) - For the rural farmers in Chile, a combination of climate change-induced mega droughts, water policies that make access unaffordable and a State that either doesn’t want to or dares not intervene in the water market means family enterprises are dying out.Lack of water threatens the very existence of family farming in Chile, forcing farmers to adopt new techniques or to leave their land.
PRETORIA, South Africa, Mar 12 (IPS) - Groundwater pollution significantly affects the prevalence of waterborne diseases. This form of pollution occurs when hazardous substances, such as pathogens, chemicals, and heavy metals, seep into underground aquifers, the primary source of drinking water for approximately 70% of the 250 million people living in the SADC region.
CUZCO, Peru, Dec 18 (IPS) - Before, when it didn t rain in the summertime, we children used to pray to God to send us water from the heavens, and the rain would come. But now it s different; the climate has changed and no prayers work Juan Hilario Quispe, president of the small farming community of Muñapata
"The rich world has caused the climate change that is drying up our water sources, and here we are doing everything we can to recover them because otherwise we will die," said Juan Hilario Quispe, president of the small farming community of Muñapata, just over 50 kilometers from the Peruvian city of Cuzco.
Dec 14 (IPS) - The author is an Afghanistan-based female journalist, trained with Finnish support before the Taliban take-over. Her identity is withheld for security reasonsAccording to United Nations statistics, nearly 80 percent of Afghan families lack access to sufficient water for their daily needs. Afghanistan, a landlocked country with limited water resources, is grappling with an exacerbated drought fueled by climate change, affecting the entire region.