Straddling the border between Bolivia and Peru at an elevation of more than 12000 feet, Lake Titicaca is a shadow of its former self. It's still South America's largest lake, but its waters are drying up. Local fishing competitions are common because the fish are easier to catch.

According to the Bolivian NGO Foundation Friends of Nature, or FAN in short, the outlook for Bolivia is one of longer droughts and severe storms.

Countries like Bolivia are the lowest emitters of greenhouse gases, but have the most to lose under predicted weather changes.

[Ivan Cawaya, Bolivian Tourism Vice-Minister]:
"There are many cultures around that have developed over 4000, 5000 years before Christ. The Chiripas, the Aymaras, the Incas all lived in harmony with the natural environment. However, today we are suffering here effects caused by the industrialized nations."

Disappearing glaciers that trickle water onto the plateau throughout the dry season will make extended droughts more difficult to weather.

[Joerg Seifert-Grazin, Foundation Friends of Nature of Bolivia]:
"What we are seeing is that until 2003 we had a similar pattern of drought as in the past. The difference we still had the capacity to store water in glaciers. In the future, around the year 2030, this capacity for water storage probably won't exist."

Environmentalists say the Illimani glaciers may vanish completely within 30 years. On the Illamani Mountain - an iconic, ice-capped peak that can be seen from La Paz - ice fields have retreated by nearly 100 feet over four decades.

The speed of the glacier melt alarmed Bolivian officials so much that at December's conference in Copenhagen they demanded rich nations pay compensation to poorer nations suffering from climate change.

In the 1990s, low water levels caused land bridges to separate some parts of Lake Titicaca. Predictions show these patterns could worsen in the future.

[Joerg Seifert-Grazin, Foundation Friends of Nature of Bolivia]:
“Fragmentation of Lake Titicaca, which already happened in the past, has a high probability of happening again in the future and with much more drastic consequences.”

Severino Mamani, a third-generation Aymara farmer who lives on the shores of Lake Titicaca, says he’s already feeling the effects of pinched water supplies.

He’s not alone. Data from Bolivia's agriculture ministry shows that 8,500 families and 2.6 million livestock suffer from water shortages.