Titicaca, world's highest lake, at risk

Lake Titicaca, the highest commercially navigable Lake in the world, located on the border of Peru and Bolivia, is at risk from at least five environmental factors, the UN has said. The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) warned about five threats that would affect Titicaca, situated at a height of 3,811 metres above sea level, the Prensa Latina news agency reported. According to the UN study, released by Bolivian state newspaper Cambio, the Titicaca water system and its environs may be affected by the impact of global warming, the fast population growth, and changes in the use of the soil near the water body. It also mentions as threatening factors the uncontrolled urbanisation, pollution of water sources and inadequate regulations for disposal of liquid waste from mining, cattle raising, fishing and aquiculture. Titicaca is a sacred place for the Inca civilization, as Incan mythology says the first Inca king, Manco Capac, was born here. It also states this was the place where the world was created from, when the god Viracocha came out of the lake and created the sun, the stars and the first people.