Climate Change in Latin America and the Caribbean
Introduction
Latin America is a subcontinent formed by 20 vastly different countries. It has an extremely high biodiversity, and its nations often struggle to balance their economical needs with the wish to protect their fauna and flora. The large exploration and colonization by other continents adds even more layers to the delicate dynamic that these states have with their natural resources.
The Caribbean is a region formed by 17 countries and more than 700 islands. The area is famous for its paradisiacal sceneries and is economically heavily dependent on tourism. Despite not having very expressive contributions to the emissions of greenhouse gasses, the zone is one of the most vulnerable to climate change effects in the world, with rising sea levels, increase of natural disasters and elevated temperatures threatening the biodiversity, livelihood and the very existence of its countries.
Climate change severely threatens the nature and population of Latin America and the Caribbean. However, the traditions and knowledge of the native people of these regions have taught us that a path where natural resources are used with sustainability in mind and minimal impact is possible, and could still be achieved. As the famous activist Chico Mendes would put it: “The Seringueiros (rubber workers), the natives and the people that live by the river have occupied the forest for more than 100 years. They have never threatened it. The ones that threaten it are the agricultural projects, the big log companies, and the hydroelectrics with its criminal floods”.
History
Both Latin America and the Caribbean have a similar history of being inhabited by natives until colonization by European states. Christopher Colombus arrived at Guanahani (now Bahamas) and claimed the Caribbean region for Spain, but there were also several movements and colonized states by England, Netherlands and France (and at some point also Denmark, Portugal and Sweden). The expansion of Spanish domination through the General Captaincy of Guatemala led to the colonization of Central America.
In regards to colonization of the south latin americans, the Tordesilhas Treaty divided lands discovered west and east of an “imaginary line” between Spain and Portugal respectively, after there was a dispute between which of the kingdoms the Americas belonged to. All of the South and Central American and Caribbean countries were colonies of exploration, which means that every valuable resource extracted in the colonies was meant to be returned to the main kingdom.
The colonization of these countries had extremely bad repercussions in terms of the economic and social reality of the nations, which are still being felt and dealt with today.
Impact on the region
The Caribbean is possibly the most vulnerable region on the planet to the effects of climate change. Rising sea levels endangers the livelihoods of at least one million people that live in areas less than one vertical meter above local high tide lines. The Bahamas, for example, has 32% of land and 25% of population below 0.5m above tide lines. Furthermore, the increase of the risk of floods caused by climate change might jeopardize even more areas. Besides rising sea levels, tropical storms, increase of droughts, melting of glaciers, floods and landslides, heatwaves and forest fires are all a concern.
South America faces similar challenges. The criminal deforestation of the forests and the general lack of care towards the natural resources all over the continent are decimating the region’s natural defenses against the effects of natural disasters. We have one example of a climate tragedy in what is happening in Rio Grande do Sul, a state in the south of Brazil.
The floods in Rio Grande do Sul
The state of Rio Grande do Sul has been suffering the consequences of its biggest natural disaster in 40 years. If that would not be tragic on its own, it is made even worse by the fact that it had already faced one of the biggest natural tragedies of its history last year.
In 2023, an extratropical cyclone caused heavy rain, strong winds and floods that affected more than 100 cities, most of them in the region of the Vale do Taquari. The government of the state declared "State of Public Calamity" amongst the thousands of people that had lost their belongings and houses and the severe damage to the economic activities of the region. There were more than 50 deaths, and more than a 1000 families affected.
C: “A drone view shows a flooded area in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil May 12, 2024. REUTERS/Adriano Machado Purchase Licensing Rights”
Now, in 2024, the floods caused by a mix of climatic circumstances have affected more than 2 million people and forced 581 thousand to move away from their houses, a reality that promises to not only bring the discussion about “climate refugees” to a country that had never talked about it before but to change the economic reality of an entire region. The damages have been estimated at around 2 billion dollars, not to mention the resources that are being allocated to help with the relief and the long term economic impact of having one of the wealthiest states of the country completely underwater.
While these instances may seem like they are related, they do not have as much in common as one would think at first glance. In 2023, the floods hit with a loud “bang”, kicking the door down and arriving with its obnoxious destruction. In 2024, it was not like that. There was no announcement, no unexpected villain, no single moment to pinpoint where it all went wrong. The floods in 2024 arrived quietly, politely opening the door, not wanting to alarm anyone of their presence. When people looked at the news on April 26, they knew heavy rain was coming, but Rio Grande do Sul is a rainy state. They expected the kind of rain that is a mild inconvenience to those of us that have to work and study, but a necessary part of nature’s cycle that allows the crops to grow. But then the rain came, and it stayed. It kept raining until school was canceled, until it wasn’t safe to leave the house anymore, until you could only get by using a boat, until entire buildings were submerged, until people lost all they had ever built in the cities they had lived in their whole life. It kept raining for days and months, the level of the water slowly rising until there was no hope of stopping it anymore and the only solution was to tell five hundred eighty-one thousand people that they had to pack up and leave all they knew and start again somewhere else.
Despite that, the loud guest and the overstaying one do have similarities: they both should’ve never reached the level of disaster that they caused. After all, it is not rare for cyclones to form on the coast of Rio Grande. And, of course, even if it is a rainy state, rain is meant to stop at some point. So why? Why did these fairly normal happenings end up causing such destruction?
The El Niño is an abnormal heating of the oceans that happens twice every ten years and has a duration of about eighteen months. Climate is related to the air masses that come from the ocean, so when the temperature of the ocean rises, countries are more likely to experience high temperatures and natural disasters like floods and droughts. We are going through the El Niño.
The issue is that global warming enhances the effects of the El Niño, so much that scientists are even speculating the coming of a "Super El Niño". Climate change is the one letting the guests in, and if we don’t do something about it, it will only get worse.
That is not something limited to the South of Brazil, but rather something that is being felt across the whole word. Storms, floods, hurricane activity and other natural disasters have been wreaking havoc in all parts of the globe in degrees rarely ever seen before.
Impact of the region
The Caribbean’s climate impact is minimal, around just 0.3 of the world’s emissions. Latin America, however, emits 10% of global emissions. The biggest offenders are Brazil and Mexico (In 2021, Brazil was the 7th biggest polluter in the world and Mexico was the 10th). The main producers of CO2 in the area are agriculture, wood extraction, changes of soil use, transportation, electricity, industries and trash management. Recent forest fires and deforestation are also contributors. Unfortunately, the main economic activities of Latin American countries are big emitters of carbon, so the process of getting to net zero emissions has been very difficult due to the financial impact that it would have in the short term.
Credit: IMF
Exploitation of resources
The exploitation of resources in Latin America and the Caribbean is a very complex problem throughout the region's history. Since colonial times, the area has been extremely abundant in natural resources. However, the process of exploration of those riches has led to significant environmental, social, and economic challenges.
Environmentally, the unsustainable extraction of these natural assets can be extremely harmful to the area and cause long term negative effects. The exploration of minerals and oil, for example, are heavily associated with the destruction and aggression of delicate ecosystems, water and air pollution, and loss of biodiversity.
Native communities that depend on these natural resources for their livelihoods suffer the most severe consequences, including forced displacement and loss of their traditional lands. Indigenous and rural communities are subjected to limited access to the economic benefits generated by resource exploitation on their own lands.
From an economic perspective, natural resources have been a source of wealth and development for many countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. However, excessive dependence on these resources creates economic vulnerability and increases the difficulty for these countries to become more ecologically friendly. Lack of economic diversification limits sustainable growth and long-term economic stability.
Interconnectedness with social issues
Global warming and the exploitation of resources have significantly influenced social issues in Latin America and the Caribbean, exacerbating inequalities and increasing vulnerabilities on various fronts.
Climate change caused by global warming has direct impacts on vulnerable latin american and caribbean communities. Natural disasters and the rise of temperature in general have caused devastating damage to infrastructure and agriculture resulting in loss of life, forced displacement, humanitarian crises, and worsened poverty for several societal groups. Rural societies that depend on subsistence agriculture and natural resources for their survival are particularly affected, facing water scarcity, failed crops, and food insecurity. Caribbean islands are also particularly vulnerable to sea level rise, leading to endangerment of the safety of coastal communities and threatening the sustainability of their tourism and fishing-based economies. Mineral extraction, deforestation, and oil exploration often occur in areas where indigenous and traditional communities live, which results in these groups facing contamination of rivers and soils that affect their health and ability to maintain traditional livelihood practices. The lack of adequate consultation and prior consent from these communities before the implementation of exploitation projects often leads to social conflicts and human rights violations.
The uneven distribution of economic benefits from resource exploitation is also a source of social tension in Latin America and the Caribbean. Resource exploitation often benefits economic and political elites, while local communities bear the environmental and social burdens of the projects. This intensifies income inequality, marginalizes vulnerable groups, and increases social exclusion.
Inadequate management of natural resources and lack of effective policies to adapt to climate change heightens the vulnerability of the poorest and most marginalized populations. The lack of investment in resilient infrastructure and sustainable development programs exacerbates the social impacts of global warming, making it more difficult for communities to address growing environmental and socio-economic challenges.
Global warming and unsustainable exploitation of natural resources are intrinsically linked to social issues in Latin America, exacerbating inequalities, increasing vulnerabilities, and hindering sustainable and inclusive development in the region. Effective solutions require integrated policies that promote responsible use of natural resources and protect the rights of local communities. Investments in resilient infrastructure, climate adaptation programs, and clean energy initiatives are essential to mitigate the negative effects of resource exploitation and global warming in the Caribbean, while striving for more inclusive and sustainable development across the region.
Conclusion
Latin America and the Caribbean are highly vulnerable areas that have very complicated relationships to climate and the environment they live in. The delicate political and social landscape most of the continent sits on has made environmental preservation an afterthought, something to put second on the line of priorities because tackling it with ineffective and inconclusive solutions is easier than recognizing that it is that very careless approach that it gives to its natural resources that drives the main economic power of most of its nations. However, if we do not take care of what is ours, we will not have a nation to have an economy. It is urgent that action is taken to stop the criminal exploration of its assets and move towards a more positive outlook on sustainability in the region.
References
https://sealevel.climatecentral.org/uploads/ssrf/Sea-level-rise-threats-in-the-Caribbean.pdf
https://unfccc.int/news/new-report-details-dire-climate-impacts-in-latin-america-and-the-caribbean
https://livre.jor.br/estudo-mostra-ilha-do-mel-desfigurada-pela-subida-do-mar-ja-em-2030/
https://youtu.be/rRzhesHlDBQ?si=20E3VT_9etJoi8QL
https://www.bbc.com/portuguese/articles/c2qlypx3k1wo