Dear travelers to Peru: Please don’t come until you’ve understood these 5 things

You would do well to become aware of the recent natural disasters affecting Northern Peru. Landslides, floods and torrential rains wreaked havoc throughout cities and the countryside, killed many people and left thousands of others homeless.

Climate scientists believe that this wave of natural disasters was triggered by a very unusual “El Niño” phenomena. This kind of “El Niño’ is a manifestation of a global warming problem. A trip to northern Peru will surely be enough to convince you of the severity of this situation. It is estimated that by 2050 most glaciers in Peru’s Andean range reaching 18,000 feet and below will disappear due to planetary warming.

When you hike the Salkantay trek to Machu Picchu, you will witness the enormous number of dry rivers that once used to carry water coming from the glaciers. The impact of this loss of glaciers can be seen in the struggle for water that local farmers confront every day. In turn, this situation is already affecting the chain of food production and the subsequent rise in prices of these goods.