- Title: Chile withers as 70% of country stricken by drought
- Date: 17th September 2019
- Summary: HELICOPTER TAKING OFF AERIAL VIEW OF DRIED LAKE BED
- Embargoed: 1st October 2019 20:20
- Keywords: rain water lack animals dry drought Chile environment climate change scarcity
- Location: SANTIAGO, RUNGE, CHACABUCO PROVINCE, ILLAPEL, CHOAPA PROVINCE, SAN NICOLAS, NUBLE PROVINCE, & ACULEO, MAIPO PROVINCE, CHILE
- City: SANTIAGO, RUNGE, CHACABUCO PROVINCE, ILLAPEL, CHOAPA PROVINCE, SAN NICOLAS, NUBLE PROVINCE, & ACULEO, MAIPO PROVINCE, CHILE
- Country: Chile
- Topics: Environment,Precipitation
- Reuters ID: LVA004AX1S9JB
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Chile is drying up and the problem is getting worse. A drought currently affects over 70% of the country according to the country's climate change office and the previous decade has been the driest on record.
Sabina Martinez is the local secretary for potable water of the municipality of Runge, a rural area some 60 kilometers (37 miles) north of the capital, Santiago. She says it has barely rained at all this year, the town's reservoir is dry, and the summer - with its higher level of water usage - hasn't even begun yet.
Runge's human population isn't alone in feeling the effects of the drought, and a program is underway to transport over 3,000 domestic animals from the area around Runge 400 kilometers (248 miles) south to an area that isn't quite so parched.
Estefania Gonzalez of Greenpeace Chile says the government should enact policies to both combat climate change and regulate the use and abuse of local water.
Gonzalez notes that Chile will be in the spotlight on climate change given it will host the 2019 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP25, in Santiago, from December 02 to 13 this year.
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