The rainy season in this part of South America should have started in September, but the area is experiencing its driest period in almost a half century, affecting more than 3,000 communities in the central and southern Andes of Peru.
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A light rain last week—only the second in almost eight months—prompted residents to set bowls outdoors to collect some water. The drops lifted dust as they hit the ground, and by the next morning, the sun had evaporated the scant moisture.
Dead sheep and lambs so weak they can barely stand can be found among sparse yellow grass.
The planting of potatoes, which is the only crop that grows in Huamaní's village, has been delayed, leading many to expect food shortages in the coming months because people are already feeding themselves from their dehydrated potato reserves.
The absence of rain in part of the Andes occurs as a result of the La Niña phenomenon, present in 2022 for the third consecutive year, according to the United Nations' meteorological agency. The drought is also hitting parts of Bolivia, Paraguay and Argentina.
Yuri Escajadillo, a climatologist with Peru's National Meteorology and Hydrology Service, said an index used to measure droughts qualified the region as "extremely dry."
"It is a record value," Escajadillo said.
The lagoon 4,100 meters above sea level is a plain of cracked and broken soil surrounded by yellow grass.
In Cconchaccota, there is no drinking water, sewage or telephone service. People drink water they get from a nearby spring, though it sometimes dries up, too.
The Andes is one of the world's most sensitive regions to climate migrations because of droughts, tropical storms and hurricanes, heavy rains and floods, according to the latest report by the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. ■
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