Lessons on global warming from the Incas

Lessons on global warming from the Incas

The Incas' Sacred Valley is an enormous territory in the middle of the Andes Mountains in Peru. It used to be the heart of the largest empire in the Americas, and the ruins that have survived the Spanish conquest could help millions here deal with the effects of global warming.

The Andean tropical glaciers will be gone by 2050, experts say. These glaciers feed most of the lakes and rivers in the area. Those living in this impoverished area are already suffering the consequences. Shortages of water and diseases that belonged to tropical areas have started to be registered. Carrion's disease transmitted by sand flies is of great worry to many of those living in the city of Cuzco. The disease causes anemia and if not treated, could be deadly.

We visited a community of Quechua Indians, who call themselves the descendants of the Incas. They continue to work the land in the same way as it was done centuries ago and told me that every day it's more difficult to grow their crops. Lakes and rivers have already dried up. And those who have received some kind of assistance only receive water three times a week.

But one paleoecologist says that history could provide a partial solution for these people. Alex Chepstow Lusty has been studying the Inca culture for years.  He says that the Incas adapted themselves to the rising temperatures of their time by expanding their agricultural frontiers. They built canals and terraces up in the mountains to adapt to climate change. He based his studies on the seeds and pollen found in a lake.

The mountains of Cuzco are filled with terraces and canals. Ninety five percent of them are not being used. So Chepstow Lusty insists that they should be put into use once again. 

He also says that that the Incas planted trees on the mountains in order to trap the water in the Andes.

The Incas not only survived global warming in the 1100s, but that's precisely when they started to expand in order to become an empire. Their ability to grow and store food was a strategic point in their development and global warming could have been the catalyst that pushed them to develop the technologies they became famous for, such as those found in the ancient ruins of Machu Pichu.