Bolivia’s second-largest lake is evaporating, say European scientists

New images from the European Space Agency’s (ESA) minisatellite Proba-V, which studies changes on the Earth’s surface, has revealed that the second-largest lake in Bolivia is slowly evaporating.

Lake Poopó, which is located on a mountain range in Bolivia’s Altiplano region, once covered 3,000 square kilometers and was bigger in area than the French island of Reunion.

Lake Poopó was once larger than the French island of Reunion

But a series of images taken by Proba-V – on April, 27, 2014; July 20, 2015; and January 22, 2016 – show that the lake is shrinking in size.

According to scientists, arid mountain air makes Lake Poopó, which is only about three meters deep, susceptible to climate change.

In December, Lake Poopó’s evaporation was officially confirmed. And while this is not the first time the lake has begun to evaporate – the last time reported was in 1994 – there are concerns that it will now take years to replenish the water, if it eventually occurs.

Area fishermen have complained about the drops in their catches while the lake’s ecosystem appears to be greatly endangered.

Lake Poopó is recognized under the Ramsar Convention as a protected wetland area.

Miners and farmers in the region are also to blame for diminishing the lake’s water supplies, as well as the drought caused by climatic changes brought on by El Niño.

Miners and farmers in the region are also to blame for diminishing the lake’s water supplies

Launched on May 7, 2013, Proba-V is widely used by the ESA to map out Earth’s land surface and study the use of vegetation cover on a daily basis.

“The Proba-V imager’s continent-spanning 2,250 kilometer field of view collects light in the blue, red, near-infrared and mid-infrared wavebands, ideal for monitoring plant and forest growth as well as inland water bodies,” according to the ESA website.

English version by Martin Delfin.