Category: News February 2022

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Migrants Crossing US-Mexico Border Face Severe Dehydration

brown wooden fence near green trees during daytime

14 February 2022 – by Deniz Saygi 

Thousands of migrants – of whom, many are children – suffer from deadly heat conditions at the US-Mexico border. As the effects of climate change worsen day by day, extreme weather conditions are causing a high risk of dehydration and death amongst migrants who try to enter the States through the Sonoran Desert.

In order to calculate the deadliest areas in the U.S. – Mexico Border, scientists and researchers used a biophysical model of human dehydration. According to the report made by this model, it was found that most of the deaths were caused primarily by severe dehydration. After organizing the dataset in the regions with the casualties, severe dehydration that leads to death, water loss, organ failure, disorientation and physiological challenges in animal species were linked together for the report. 

“We provide the first empirical evidence that the physiological stresses experienced by humans attempting to cross the Sonoran Desert into the U.S. are sufficient to cause severe dehydration and associated conditions that can lead to death. A disproportionately large percentage of migrant deaths occur in areas where the predicted rates of water loss are highest,” says Ryan Long, an associate professor of wildlife sciences at the University of Idaho. Long also underlines the importance of access to drinking water supplies for preventing the risks at the highest rates of water loss during migration across the borders in the region. 

Models developed for fighting against climate change and water scarcity unfortunately show us that these type of border crossings will only become more dangerous over time, increasing the already large number of people who do not make it across. Measures must be taken immediately to mitigate this crisis.

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Chile’s ”Flowering Desert” Reflects an Adaptation Process for Climate Change

yellow petaled flower

8 February 2022 – by Deniz Saygi

As the driest desert in the world, Chile’s Atacama Desert shows how plants adapt to climate change: Every few years, a little corner of the desert is covered with purple and yellow flowers. This extraordinary blossom event is locally known as the ”flowering desert.” 

Though it has been observed that some parts of the Atacama Desert can go years without seeing rain, amongst 200 species of flowers, the ”pata de guanaco” and ”yellow ananuca” can bloom in an uninhabitable environment of the desert. As a consequence, scientists have a chance to study the species that can adapt to extreme climate changes. 

To study this specific adaptation event occurring in the Atacama Desert, a complex ecosystem has been created for flower seeds to lie dormant in the soil for decades and wait for enough rainfall in order to allow them to bloom.

“When there is a certain amount of precipitation, which has been estimated at approximately 15 cubic millimetres, it triggers a large germination event,” said Andrea Loaiza, a biologist from La Serena University who works on this study. Loaiza also stated that the bloom is happening on an irregular schedule, and the last significant one occurred in 2017. In respect of its irregularity, this blossom event may not happen forever since the ecosystem of the area has a very fragile nature and any kind of disruption can break the balance.

“To adapt to a climate crisis, we need to understand the natural processes. We want to learn from these plants because these species demonstrate different adaptation mechanisms,” said Andres Zurita, a geneticist who also works on this study.

It should be remembered that it is crucial to study these endemic species to understand how they manage to survive in extreme conditions and take precautions for the regions (like the Atacama Desert) that are vulnerable to the devastating effects of climate change.