Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Banners have appeared across the highlands raising alarm about the ‘unusual’ intensity of the radiation
Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated from highland Bolivia after a heatwave left the air sweltering in one of the world’s most atolled regions.
Sweltering weather combined with strong ultraviolet radiation means parts of the Andes can be 200 times hotter than at sea level.
Schools and the provincial capital La Paz closed and public services were suspended.
Mercury has reached new record highs and rain and fog have been delayed by melting glaciers.
Scientists at the National Institute of Geophysics say total solar radiation has risen by 80% in the last week.
They are now investigating what caused the phenomenon which has seen a flight of a billion kilowatts of electricity from southern Peru to La Paz disappear in a light rain.
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BBC science correspondent Amjad Mahmood says meteorologists say it is unusual, as high altitude, high latitude data shows a period of average solar radiation decline.
Sweltering weather combined with strong ultraviolet radiation means parts of the Andes can be 200 times hotter than at sea level.
Some of the outdoor arenas in La Paz, Bolivia’s capital, are sweltering in over 43C, despite 50cm of snow melting on the mountains.
Fatality is thought to be low so far, but the situation remains unstable.
Frequent visitors to high altitudes say the air quickly heats up and there is no place to take refuge.
One man told how he did not bother to register for a bus because he was too afraid to get on it.
There have been 8,000 evacuation notices in Cochabamba, just east of La Paz, and some of the high-altitude towns like Caserones are nearly deserted.
A single notice in the area reads: “A population of 8,156 was notified for over 42 people have died or gone missing since 11 May since the vegetation of the highlands started burning and according to the national emergency centre more deaths occur than deaths due to causes to rest home and sickness.
“The number of patients dying has also doubled and medical resources used in the hospitals are insufficient to deal with the treatment of the affected populations.”
‘This sun isn’t normal’
Cautionary notices have been issued by government agencies in Chaco and in the Pamina, the so-called Quartz mountain range, home to 80% of the Amazonian people.
Images posted on social media show road signs warning of an increase in weather risks, such as landslides, fire and low visibility.
When the mercury soars, electricity is losing efficiency and instead it is being used as energy in the plants and trees to create so-called shadow trees – instead of sitting back and allowing the sun to consume the solar energy, which would have produced more energy than the electricity lost.
Image copyright AFP Image caption Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated from highland Bolivia after a heatwave left the air sweltering in one of the world’s most atolled regions
In Caserones, 8,000 people were evacuated as health officials warned of a surge in bacterial infections and carbon monoxide, caused by livestock being stored indoors during the heatwave.
Some are worried about crop damage but initially rainbows have appeared in the skies above the highlands, an indication that cooling wind has stopped the temperature rising.
According to foreign environmental NGO Eneco, the Andes are home to two-thirds of the world’s water species and hundreds of mammal and reptile species.
Published research says the Biopower Institute in Cochabamba has already had 350 leaf paper fans deployed to try to cool the central square.
For many people in high-altitude indigenous communities, where religion prohibits technology, fear is trumping optimism about the current conditions.
“This sun isn’t normal. The last time it was like this it’s been three years and the social disorder goes on,” a local indigenous man called Matias told Agence France-Presse.
“We are worried and we don’t know what to do.”
– BBC News