2023-07-22 04:16:21
A severe heat wave, with record temperatures, impacts countries like Spain, Greece or Mexico. The phenomenon, which even entails the loss of human lives, becomes more worrisome every year. The situation in the southern hemisphere, looking ahead to the next southern summerwhich will begin this December 2023, also causes alarm among experts. report 2023 of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned regarding the vulnerabilities that Latin America presents, especially the central zone of Chile and the Argentinean Chaco (northeast), regarding possible heat wavesadded to tentative contingencies associated with the El Niño phenomenon, which raises the temperature of the Pacific Ocean.
“Our Latin American context is different, basically because we are very vulnerable to the effects of climate change, due to our own geography, the composition of our ecosystems and our biodiversity,” Chilean environmental lawyer Mariana Cruz, a specialist in environmental law at the non-governmental organization (NGO) Fiscalía del Medio Ambiente (FIMA), warned Sputnik.
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For her part, Sol Saliva, also an environmental activist, coordinator of the Climate Crisis of the NGO Eco House Global Argentina, said that in the region “Worry regarding what’s going to happen because beyond the climatic threat, which is in this case the heat wave and extreme temperatures, the risk is made up of two other things: the exposure and vulnerability“.
“In countries like Europe, they face the same climate threat, but they have either less exposure or less vulnerability” than in Latin America, Saliva said.
Saliva indicated that they are also analyzing “the magnitude and impact” of the heat wave on the European continent, but stressed that “what is most striking is not the temperature itself, but even Europe is not ready for this.”
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Beyond the heat waves
The experts suggest that the southern hemisphere will face in the coming months and years a significant increase in extreme weather and climate events that will have a full impact on South America.
“This also implies that our own vulnerabilities, under our own livelihood systems, our own socioeconomic conflicts, inequity and poverty, are exacerbated due to the adverse climatic effects that are going to occur,” Cruz accused.
Along the same lines, Saliva predicted that “in our countries, with the levels of inequality and less developmentWe are going to run much higher risks.” The Argentine expert pointed out the importance of developing early warning systems and putting public policies “to adapt” to climate change into practice.
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Both Cruz and Saliva agree that, beyond heat waves such as those currently occurring in the northern hemisphere, the immediate effects of climate change will translate into episodes of droughts, floods and loss of biodiversity.
“Other very marked consequences in Latin America, and this is what the NGO reports as well as the IPCC say, will be the possible impact on food sovereignty and the ability to obtain water,” Cruz stressed.
Extreme weather effects “will likely exacerbate this loss of availability of food, water resources, so the picture looks complex,” he added.
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Vulnerability and climate action
The Chilean specialist in environmental law highlighted the need to take actions in the face of these approaching climatic phenomena “because our human vulnerability is typical of interdependent ecosystems and our region has development limitations, which makes it even more vulnerable.”
Saliva pointed out the importance of not staying “only with the photo of the consequences, we have to enlarge the image towards the causes and work on the climate change mitigation“.
“That seems to me to be the most important message that we have to take away, because science sent us a very clear message, which is that we still have time to reverse the worst consequences,” he added.
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The Argentine expert asserted that it is “primary” from civil society to make decisions that influence “so that urgent, ambitious and necessary climate action is carried out.”
“Each country has to act from where it is, but understanding that this is a global problem and we all need to take action,” Saliva added.
Cruz warned that “without risk of sounding fatalistic,” the impacts of climate change are becoming more complex and more difficult to manage. Therefore, what happens in Europe serves as a mirror to act in the short term and “that the measures and policies that are taken in relation to risk and disaster management are adequate.”
The Chilean expert explained that these risks related to droughts and loss of food, biodiversity and ecosystems, directly impact communities and violates their rights due to displacement due to climatic disasters and the deepening inequities.
There will be a “negative synergy,” Cruz said, “which in Latin America can have much higher costs than we can imagine.”
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