The World Meteorological Organization has produced a scientific assessment report on how climate change is already impacting Latin America.
TEMPERATURE INCREASE
Last year was the hottest year in the Caribbean and the second hottest year in all of South America.
LESS RAIN AND HEAT WAVES
Rainfall has already decreased throughout the region, from Mexico to the Pantanal, through the Andes and the Amazon. Brazil and Bolivia have recorded the worst drought in 50 years. Latin America has also experienced increasingly intense heat waves.
MELTING OF THE ANDES
In 2019, Peru recorded melting of 53% of the country’s glacier cover. It is important to remember that 71% of the glaciers in the Andes are found on Peruvian soil. Before that, in 2009, the Chacaltaya glacier had already disappeared from the Bolivian landscape forever. The loss of this fresh water reserve has an impact on the Andean communities, which will have no water, in addition to affecting the hydrological cycle of the entire Amazon basin.
RISING SEA LEVELS
In Latin America, more than 27% of the population lives in cities and coastal communities. The rise in sea level is a threat, with increasing likelihood of extreme weather events along the entire coast and in all the countries of the Caribbean.
INCREASE IN SEA TEMPERATURE
Last year, in the Caribbean, the increase in sea temperature affected not only the region but also humidity in the Amazon. The increase in the temperature of the Atlantic also fuels extreme weather events like hurricanes.
The report also talks about the impacts on the populations of Latin American countries, and presents urgent adaptation measures that range from the creation of food security programs to the establishment of warning systems to reduce loss of life in disasters.
Learn more:
“State of the climate in Latin America and the Caribbean” – WMO: https://bit.ly/3kiM04Z
