News

Scientists Warn of Future Impacts of Climate Change on Latin American Nations
Santo Domingo, June 1st, 2007

GFDD and FUNGLODE’s International Forum on Climate Change featured presentations by experts on the 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Report (IPCC).

The Panel on the 2007 IPCC Report was comprised of: Juan Mancebo, National Climate Change Coordinator for the Dominican Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources; Matilde Rusticucci, Lead Author of the 2007 IPCC Report, and Professor of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science at the Universidad de Buenos Aires in Argentina; Alicia Villamizar, Lead Author of the 2007 IPCC Report, and Professor of Environmental Studies at the Universidad Simón Bolivar in Venezuela; and Ana Rosa Moreno, Lead Author of the 2007 IPCC Report, and Professor of Public Health at the Universidad Autonoma de México (UNAM).

Matilde Rusticucci discussed the findings revealed in the section of the report titled: The Scientific Basis of Climate Change. Rusticucci contended that the average global temperature is presently 0.75 degrees Celsius higher than it had been between 1961 and 1990. She asserted that wide-scale climatic changes are occurring on a continental and oceanic scale. These changes included the melting of polar icecaps, changes in precipitation levels, increased oceanic salinity, increased occurrence of drought and heat waves, and intensified tropical storms.

According to the 2007 IPCC Report, the average global temperature will increase by 0.2 degrees Celsius each decade.  Rusticucci posited that by the year 2010, the vast majority of glacial ice will have completely melted. She warned that heat waves and tropical storms will increase in both frequency and intensity.

Impacts, Adaptations and Vulnerability in Latin America

Alicia Villamizar and Ana Rosa Moreno presented the findings of the section of the 2007 IPCC Report titled: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability.

Villamizar and Moreno warned that if climate change continues to progress at its present rate, in15 years, all of the ice-covered peaks of South America’s inter-tropical zone will have virtually disappeared, resulting in shortages of potable water and electric energy for people in Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, and Ecuador.

According to the 2007 IPCC Report findings, global warming will significantly impact the following:

• Coastal deterioration (El Salvador, Guyana, Argentina)
• Building and tourism (Mexico, Uruguay)
• Coastal morphology (Peru)
• Mangroves (Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela)
• Availability of potable water (the Pacific coastal areas of Costa Rica and Ecuador)

Villamizar and Moreno stressed that an average global temperature increase of 2 degrees Celsius could translate in decreased areas of tropical rainforest and increased areas of shade forest in the Amazon region, as well as increased amounts of arid vegetation and decreased amounts of semi-arid vegetation in Northeast Brazil.

25 of the most biologically diverse areas of the globe are concentrated in Latin America, all of which are experiencing loss of habit. Villamizar and Moreno warned that if steps are not taken to mitigate the effects of climate change, the biodiversity endemic to these areas will undoubtedly be adversely impacted.

The report calculates that by 2030, between 30 and 90 million people will not have access to potable water, and that by 2050, between 100 and 180 million people will not have access to potable water.

Back to NEWS >>