I. Contributions to Climate Change
While parts of Latin America would be rated as having a ‘B’ on the world’s report card for carbon emissions, there is still much to be done to make up for the tremendous amount of greenhouse gases that industrialized places, and other parts of the world emit on an annual basis. Forests are considered “the heart and lungs of the world”, playing vital roles in hydrologic and the carbon and oxygen cycles. It is estimated that tropical rain forests contain half of the world’s species, and Latin America contains some of the largest tropical rain forests in the world. Unfortunately the remaining tropical forests in the world, including those in Latin America are decreasing in size 1% every year. According to the case studies from The Alternatives to Slash-And-Burn Program, Mitigating GHG Emissions in the Humid Tropics,
“Tropical deforestation contributes up to 25% of the net annual CO2 emissions (Watson et al., 2000) and 10% of the global N2O emissions (Bouwman et al. 1995), primarily from the slashing and burning of the high-biomass vegetation and decom- position of the soil organic matter…” and,
“In Latin America, areas in the states of Rondonia and Acre in the western Amazon of Brazil represent areas of rapid deforestation as a result of colonization programs…”
While some of the deforestation that leads to greenhouse gas emissions occur for agricultural land, much of it is caused because of the pressure placed upon them by industrialized nations seeking special forest products.
II. Impacts of Climate Change
Climate Change poses an environmental threat to all nations, and poses a pressing problem for those of Latin America. Considered to be from latitude 32° N to 55° S, the countries within this region enjoy a wide variety of climates which are being threatened by numerous climatic related phenomenon. For instance, southern Brazil, northern Uruguay, Paraguay, and northern Argentina, the South American grain heart, are suffering increasing instances of prolonged drought. Hurricanes are posing a serious problem to both coasts of Mexico, and higher levels of tropical cyclone activity threaten all Central American countries. Global warming is contributing to a loss in fresh water mass by melting mountain glaciers. This leads to changes in river courses and in turn affects shipping and boating routes, hydroelectric energy, and tourism. Instances of intense flooding are becoming more commonplace, most notably as of late in Brazil. ENSO, a variation of “El Niño“, will bring climatic change to Peru, Ecuador, Chile, and NE Brazil. “La Niña” has been blamed for conditions leading to flooding and drought in Colombia and Southern Brazil. Any variations in either of their cycles means severe disruption to Latin American countries. These are only a few samples of the natural perils posed by climate change. If we take into account that a large portion of Latin American countries lack the infrastructure to deal with the consequences of these climatic phenomena, it is clear the impact of climate change poses a very serious threat.
III. Proposed Solutions
Climate change is affected by multiple aspects of human alteration (and some works completely out of our control). It has become clear that certain regions of human population hold more of a responsibility in protecting our ecosystems than others. This is due to pollution output, but also geographic location. Latin America holds the majority of the world’s rainforest's, which in turn means they hold much of the burden towards responsibly managing one of the world’s largest ecological systems. In Brazil, authorities have invested in an advanced monitoring system to help calculate the amount of forest being consumed, as well as cracking down on illegal harvesting. This remains to be a tremendously daunting task, but deforestation has declined in areas where greater enforcement has been applied. However, this remains to be a fight with slow global benefit. Bolivia’s President assembled a “People’s Summit,” in order to demand contributions from wealthier nations. This “climate debt” makes requests of payment to the countries affected most by climate change so that they may clean up and adapt to their changing environment. Also, wealthy nations are asked to reduce their carbon emissions to make room for developing countries increasing their emissions as they industrialize. Rainforests are Latin America’s ecological baby, and they are fighting to protect them. Latin America also realizes that global warming cannot be distinguished without the cooperation of major polluters, and they are calling upon those countries to make drastic, but necessary changes.
Works Cited (I):Palm, Cheryl. "Mitigating GHG Emissions in the Humid Tropics: Case Studies from the Alternatives to Slash-and-Burn Program (ASB)". Environment, development and sustainability (1387-585X), 6 (1-2), p. 145. EBSCO. Web. 01 Jan. 2004.
Southwick, Charles H. Global Ecology In Human Perspective. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996.
Works Cited (II):
Candel, Filomeno Mira. "Climate Change and the Global Insurance Industry: Impacts and Problems in Latin America." Geneva Papers on Risk & Insurance - Issues & Practice 32.1 (2007): 29-34. Business Source Premier. EBSCO. Web. 30 Jan. 2011.
Works Cited (III):
Fearnside, PM. "Deforestation control in Mato Grosso: a new model for slowing the loss of Brazil's Amazon forest. (Article, 2003) [Portland State University]." WorldCat: Portland State University. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Jan. 2011. <http://portlandstate.worldcat.org/title/deforestation-control-in-mato-grosso-a-new-model-for-slowing-the-loss-of-brazils-amazon-forest/oclc/112527273&referer=brief_results>.
Shultz, Jim. "OPEN FORUM Latin America Finds a Voice on Climate Change: With What Impact? (Article, 2010) [Portland State University]." WorldCat: Portland State University. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Jan. 2011. <http://portlandstate.worldcat.org/title/open-forum-latin-america-finds-a-voice-on-climate-change-with-what-impact/oclc/649750469&referer=brief_results>.
