Bolivia blames rich world pollution for floods

As poor people from Bolivia's Andes to its Amazon lowlands are battered by devastating floods, President Evo Morales is blaming pollution from wealthy nations, and some experts say he has a point.

The floods, droughts and hailstorms that have pounded South America's poorest country for three months were triggered by El Nino, a weather phenomenon believed to be aggravated by global warming, climate experts say.

Bolivia's worst flooding in 25 years has killed 35 people and affected 350,000, dissolving mud-brick homes and washing away the meager belongings of people who were already desperately poor.

Morales declared a national disaster this week after touring the hard-hit northeastern Beni region, in a drainage basin for rivers from all over the country.

He has blamed the floods on industrialized nations "that pollute the environment and change the weather."

Spencer Wear, author of The Discovery of Global Warming, said poor countries are more susceptible to the damage caused by climate change.

"Nobody can say (El Nino) is caused by global warming, but we can say for sure that global warming makes this kind of event more likely," Wear told Reuters.

from Reuters