Photo: file.
According to the World Bank, the effects of climate change are driving Latin America to a slower rate of economic expansion, with the risk of increasing poverty.
Despite being one of the regions that contributes the least to global warming, this organization’s calculations show that Latin American countries have lost 1.7 percent of their annual gross domestic product over the past two decades due to climate-related natural disasters.
With the region vulnerable and highly exposed to most of the climate’s adverse impacts, nearly six million people could face extreme poverty, the World Bank has warned.
Latin America and the Caribbean contribute around eight percent to greenhouse gas emissions, most of which come from the agricultural sector, land use change and forestry.
Without concrete mitigation measures, it is estimated that more than 17 million people could be forced to migrate within their own countries to escape the effects of climate change on the continent.
The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change also asserted that Latin America is having an impact on agricultural production, traditional fisheries, food security and human health due to more frequent and severe droughts and the resulting decrease in water availability in some regions.
Meanwhile, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean said the two oceans surrounding the continent, the Pacific and the Atlantic, are warming and acidifying as sea levels rise.
Because of this, greater impacts are expected from the abrupt warming of the sea and atmosphere, affecting food and water supplies and putting infrastructure to sustain cities, communities and natural ecosystems at greater risk, the commission warned. Economics for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).
(With information from PL)