Dry Upheaval

As if Colombia needs any more bad news: The war-torn nation's water supply could be reduced by as much as 40 percent over the next 50 years due to deforestation and other degradation of fragile high mountain ecosystems, according to Carlos Castano, director of the country's Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology, and Environmental Studies. The paramo, or Andean mountain moorland, has been damaged by over-farming, which reduces the ability of soil to maintain water that later drains into lowland rivers. Fifty-eight percent of the Colombian paramo has already disappeared, Castano said, and 75 percent of what remains could be gone in 15 years, taking a serious toll on water resources. Meanwhile, some 27 percent of high Andean forests have been cut down, and guerrilla warfare and the illegal drug industry have led to oil spills from bombed pipelines and water pollution from highly toxic cocaine byproducts. Ironically, Columbia is one of the five nations with the greatest biodiversity, and it is home to more bird and amphibian species than any other country on Earth.