"Climate Change Poses Threat To Colombian Coast"

"For more than 300 years, residents of Colombia's Pacific Coast area of Tumaco have mostly been left alone to fish or grow bananas, cacao or other crops, often cultivating communal plots. Their part of southwestern Colombia is isolated from the rest of the country, and the largely Afro-Colombian population lived peacefully in relative autonomy.

But in recent years, the peace has been disturbed by new security threats, aggravated by climate change. The Tumaco area, in Colombia's Narino province, has become a prime example of how environmental and security pressures work in tandem to undermine previously stable communities."

Tom Gjelten reports for NPR's All Things Considered December 14, 2009.

See Also:

"In Bolivia, Water and Ice Tell of Climate Change" (New York Times)