Some of the mystical blue-green lakes of the Lacandon jungle in southern Mexico are drying up this year, the result of what experts say is an extended drought and rising temperatures in the region.
The Metzabok lake, which normally covers 220 acres (89 hectares), dried up completely this month, leaving cracked mud where the translucent waters normally reflect the surrounding jungle and Lacandon Indians travel by canoe.
About 350 Lacandones, an indigenous group that still uses traditional dress of long hair and white cotton tunics, depend on tourism, fish and water from the lake and 20 other jungle lagoons nearby for their livelihood.
In this photo provided by Mexico's National Commission for Protected Nature Areas, people work to rescue a young crocodile and other wildlife from the receding waters of the Metzabok Lagoon in the Lacandon jungle of Chiapas State in southern Mexico, in the first half of August, 2019. In recent days, indigenous Lacandones, who depend on tourism, fish and water from the jungle lakes, worked furiously with biologists to capture and transfer crocodiles, fish and turtles from the dried-up lake to nearby ones that still have water. (CONANP via AP)
In recent days they worked with biologists to capture and transfer crocodiles, fish and turtles from the dried-up lake to those nearby that still have water. The area is part of a nature preserve known as Naha-Metzabok, and the Lacandones have preserved the surrounding jungle for decades by avoiding the slash-and-burn agriculture and cattle ranching.
Some of the older Lacandones remember that the Metzabok lake (the name means "The god of thunder" in the Maya language) had dried up once ago, in the 1950s.
But experts worry that such episodes will become more frequent as rainfall declines and peak temperatures rise in the area, located just a few dozen miles from the Guatemalan border.
In this photo provided by Mexico's National Commission for Protected Nature Areas, cracked mud is seen in the drying lake bed of the Metzabok Lagoon, in the Lacandon jungle of Chiapas State in southern Mexico, in the first half of August, 2019. During the month of August, the Metzabok lake, which normally covers 220 acres (89 hectares), dried up completely, leaving cracked mud where the surrounding jungle used to reflect in the translucent waters and Lacandon Indians traveled by canoe.(CONANP via AP)
Mexico's National Water Commission lists most of the Lacandon jungle as being in a "moderate drought" situation, but some areas whose waters normally feed the lagoons are listed as "severe to extreme" drought.
Since the jungle lakes are fed by groundwater flows, not rivers, the situation may take some time to recover.
But it is not just Metzabok lake that has suffered.
Adrián Méndez Barrera, a biologist who serves are regional director for Mexico's National Commission for Protected Nature Areas, said he knowns of six lagoons outside the nature reserve that have dried up.
"Rainfall over the last four years has been down by about 30%," Méndez Barrera said. "On the other hand, we have seen average maximum temperatures rise from 30 degrees to 34 degrees (86 to 93 Fahrenheit). These two factors have a combined effect."
"The lakes are not very deep," he noted, "and we are seeing a high level of evaporation."
The better-known Lagunas de Montebello lakes are also suffering; the main lake in that area — also located in southern Chiapas state — is 60 meters (yards) below its average high-water mark this year.
"I don't know if the lakes are going to recover, or if this (drought) is going to become a more frequent and more widely-seen experience," Méndez Barrera said.
A pilot from Alabama had just been promoted to major in January and had been deployed less than a week when the refueling aircraft he was aboard crashed in Iraq this week, killing him and five others, his brother-in-law said Saturday.
Alex Klinner, 33, leaves behind three small children: 7-month-old twins and a 2-year-old son, his brother-in-law, James Harrill, said Saturday while confirming his death.
“It’s kind of heartbreaking to say: He was just a really good dad and really loved his family a lot — like a lot,” Harrill said.
Also aboard the aircraft was an Ohio man whose loved ones remembered him for his smile, his parents said.
The Pentagon hasn’t yet announced the identities of the six, but families began revealing who had died Saturday.
The aircraft was in “friendly” airspace, supporting operations against Iran, when an unspecified incident involving another aircraft occurred, according to U.S. Central Command. The other plane landed safety, U.S. military officials said.
The Ohio Air National Guard’s 121st Air Refueling Wing said in a Facebook post late Friday that three of the dead were airmen who served in the Columbus-based unit.
“We share in the sorrow of their loved ones, and we must not forget the valuable contributions these Airmen made to their country and the impact they have left on our organization,” according to the 121st Air Refueling Wing’s post.
Klinner, a graduate of Auburn University and an eight-year U.S. Air Force veteran from Birmingham, Alabama, had just moved with his family into a new home, his wife, Libby Klinner, said in an Instagram post mourning his death.
An outdoorsman who enjoyed hiking, Klinner was also ready to help others. When Harrill last saw him in January, Klinner had shoveled Harrill’s vehicle out of the snow during a family wedding.
“Alex was one of those guys that had this steady command about him,” said Harrill, who helped set up a GoFundMe site for Klinner’s family. “He was literally one of the most kindest, giving people.”
Libby Klinner said in a post that her heart is broken for their children, who will grow up not knowing their father.
“They won’t get to see firsthand the way he would jump up to help in any way he could,” she wrote. “They won’t see how goofy and funny he was. They won’t witness his selflessness, the way he thought about everyone else before himself. They won’t get to feel the deep love he had for them.”
Sgt. Tyler Simmons of Columbus, Ohio, also was among six service members who died Thursday in the crash of a KC-135 Stratotanker, his mother, Cheryl Simmons, confirmed on Saturday. Cheryl Simmons said she was making funeral plans for her son.
In a statement obtained by WCMH-TV in Columbus, Tyler Simmons' family said it was saddened beyond measure to hear of the fatal crash.
“Tyler’s smile could light up any room, his strong presence would fill it. His parents, grandparents, family and friends are grief stricken for the loss of life,” they said.
U.S. Central Command, which oversees the Middle East, has said the crash occurred on a combat mission but was over “friendly” territory in western Iraq. Military officials said it is being investigated and was "not due to hostile or friendly fire.”
The KC-135 aircraft refuels other planes in midair, allowing them to fly longer distances and sustain operations without landing. The plane can also be used to transport wounded personnel and conduct surveillance missions, according to military experts.
The Congressional Research Service says the Air Force last year had 376 KC-135s, including 151 on active duty, 163 in the Air National Guard and 62 in the Air Force Reserve. It has been in service for more than 60 years.
Lieb reported from Jefferson City, Missouri; Scolforo reported from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; and Walker from New York.
In this photo provided by the U.S. Air National Guard, U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Tyler Simmons, an in-flight refueling specialist with the 121st Air Refueling Wing, refuels a C-17 Globemaster with a KC-135 Stratotanker during a teacher orientation flight at Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base, Ohio, on April 27, 2023. (Airman First Class Ivy Thomas/U.S. Air National Guard via AP)
In this photo provided by the U.S. Air National Guard, U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Tyler Simmons, a boom operator assigned to the Ohio National Guard's 121st Air Refueling Wing in Columbus, Ohio, speaks during the Enlisted Leadership Symposium at Youngstown Air Reserve Station in Youngstown, Ohio, on June 27, 2023. (Airman 1st Class Nicholas Battani/U.S. Air National Guard via AP)
FILE - A U.S. Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker aerial refueling aircraft performs a flyover during the national anthem before an NCAA college football game between Central Florida and Georgia Tech, Sept. 24, 2022, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack, File)
FILE - A U.S. Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker refueling tanker aircraft takes off from the Kadena Air Base airfield in Kadena town, west of Okinawa, southern Japan, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae, File)
In this Jan. 28, 2026 photo, U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Aaron Slupski, a crew chief with the 121st Maintenance Group, prepares to marshal a KC-135 Stratotanker at Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base, Columbus, Ohio. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said Friday that three of six crew members of an American KC-135 refueling plane were killed when it crashed in Iraq were from his state and had deployed with the Ohio Air National Guard's 121st Air Refueling Wing. (Ralph Branson, U.S. Air National Guard photo via AP)
