Category: South America

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Glacial Lake Flooding Threatens Millions Worldwide 

30 March 2023 – by Cosmo Sanderson

Fifteen million people worldwide are threatened by devastating flooding from glacial lakes, new research has found. 

The study, led by a team at Newcastle University, calls for “urgent” action to help avert future deaths from such floods. 

Deaths can be caused either directly by the floods, which are “highly destructive and can arrive with little prior warning,” or by damage to property, infrastructure and agricultural land. 

More than half of the globally exposed population live in just four countries: India, Pakistan, Peru and China. 

Much like other natural disasters such as hurricanes and earthquakes, floods from glacial lakes represent not just a threat to life but a major displacement risk for millions worldwide.

Last year, a glacial lake in Pakistan burst its banks and wiped out a bridge downstream, as well as damaging nearby homes and two powerplants. 

Melting Himalayan glaciers have also been identified as having fuelled last year’s devastating floods in Pakistan, which left a third of the country underwater. Those floods reportedly displaced over 32 million people. 

This study was the first to try and map where people are most at risk from “glacial lake outburst floods,” as they are known.

Since 1990, the study says that the number and size of glacial lakes has grown rapidly along with downstream population. This is because glaciers are shrinking due to global warming. 

The lakes, which form in hollowed out glacier beds or on top of existing glaciers, can also trigger “positive feedbacks” causing further ice loss. 

The study found that 15 million people live within 50 kilometres of a glacial lake, placing them at risk from flooding. In Asia, a region where there is likely to be little warning of flooding or certainty as to how powerful floods will be, one million people live within one kilometre of such lakes. 

Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region is most vulnerable to such flooding. However the study also said that a lack of research on flood risk in the Andes “urgently” requires attention, with the second- and third-most dangerous basins found in Peru and Bolivia. 

The study said improvements to early warning systems such as time lapse cameras for flooding are “urgently needed,” alongside other measures such as evacuation drills. 

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The Number of Fires in The Amazon Increases in 2022

19 September 2022 – by Darina Kalamova

Tropical rainforests stay humid throughout the year and fires aren’t a natural phenomenon there.

This means that nearly all blazes currently burning in the Amazon are started by people in service of mining, logging, and agriculture. Farmers start blazes to clear land for other uses, such as pasture and crops. Illegal loggers and miners use them to hide their activities or to drive traditional communities out of their land.   

Climate change and global warming are exacerbating the situation as well. They lead to higher temperatures and drier conditions, making it impossible to keep the fires under control. Without regular rainfall the forest shifts from being fire-resistant to fire-susceptible. 

The Brazilian Amazon

The Brazilian Amazon is affected most, primarily due to weakened law enforcement and lack of political will.  In 2022, 4000 square kilometers of forest have been cleared away, marking a 17% increase over the previous year.

August and September typically mark the forest’s dry season. August recorded the highest number of fires in a month, surpassing previous years. In fact, on August 22 more than 3,300 fire alerts were reported in a day,  the worst number in the last 15 years.  September is painting a similar picture as the first week of the month had more fires than in all of September 2021.

Thick clouds of smoke cover towns in the Brazilian states of Amazonas and Pará for weeks at a time, and smoke inhalation is becoming a serious health risk for the local population. The blazes also threaten the forest’s biodiversity and the global climate. Scientists warn that the rainforest’s carbon-storing potential is crucial, and without it, the planet is headed for an ecological disaster.

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Chile Rejects New Eco-friendly Constitution

9 September 2022 – by Cosmo Sanderson

Chilean voters have rejected the chance to enact a groundbreaking constitution that would have enshrined the “rights of nature”.

Almost 62% of voters turned down what had been described as an “ecological constitution” in last Sunday’s vote.

The proposed text, which was championed by Chile’s leftist President Gabriel Boric, would have made Chile only the second country to recognise the rights of nature after Ecuador.

“Nature has rights,” the text read. “The state and society have the duty to protect and respect them.”

The constitution would have also reportedly seen the creation of autonomous governmental bodies to safeguard those rights and allowed Chilean citizens to bring lawsuits to enforce them.

Aside from its environmental protections, the proposed constitution recognised the rights of Chile’s indigenous populations to their land and resources. It would also have made gender parity across government a legal requirement.

Chile’s existing constitution was entered into in 1980 during the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. Chileans overwhelmingly voted to update it in 2020, a year after a rise in public transport fees sparked a million-strong march in Santiago against inequality.

Olga Barbosa, an ecologist at the Austral University of Chile, told US journal Science that she was “shocked” by the outcome of the vote, reflecting that there is “still so much fear of change.”

Nicolás Trujillo Osorio, a philosopher of science at Andrés Bello National University, told the same publication that concepts including the rights of nature were too vague and poorly explained.

Boric has announced he will work with Congress and civil society to launch a new constitutional process. “We have to listen to the voice of the people,” he said regarding the rejected text, and develop a new proposal that will “fill us with confidence and unite us all”.

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Chile Prepares to Vote on New Constitution Recognising ‘Rights of Nature’

9 August 2022 – Cosmo Sanderson

The Chilean people are preparing to vote on a new constitution that would make the country only the second on earth to recognise the ‘Rights of Nature.’

The 4 September vote will see Chileans given the opportunity to radically overhaul their existing constitution, which was entered into in 1980 during the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet.

The proposed new constitution enshrines in it the Rights of Nature, stating that:

“Individuals and peoples are interdependent with nature and together, they are an inseparable whole. Nature has rights. The State and society have the duty to protect and respect them.”

If approved, the constitution would reportedly make Chile the only country other than Ecuador to recognise such rights.

Chileans overwhelmingly voted to update their constitution in 2020, a year after a rise in public transport fees sparked a million-strong march in Santiago against inequality.

Last month, Chile’s constitutional assembly sent the final proposed text to President Gabriel Boric, kicking off a two-month campaign on whether to vote it into law. Aside from environmental protections, the new constitution places a fresh emphasis on social rights, gender equality and indigenous autonomy.

The fate of the new constitution hangs in the balance. A poll published late last month found that 47% of respondents plan to vote against the text, with 39% in favour of it and 14% undecided.

Reuters reports that the vote is being closely linked to Boric – the 36-year-old leftist former student protest leader – who took office in March and has been a strong advocate for constitutional reform. Boric has seen his support slump to 34% as of June 2022.

One of the groups most affected by global warming in Chile is its Monte Patria population in Limarí Province. Human rights think tank Climate Refugees reports that drought problems aggravated by global warming have forced many in the community to migrate to other areas in the country.

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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.

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Argentina and Ecuador Offer their Creditors to Create Payment Mechanisms for Ecosystem Services

foamy wave rolling over azure sea surface

20 January 2022 – by Deniz Saygi

The COP26 Climate Talks in Glasgow introduced a new discussion about how the richest and developed countries can help the poorer ones to make a transition in terms of both cleaner and sustainable energy. In this regard, Argentina and Ecuador offered a solution to their creditors: Climate action instead of money. 

Alberto Fernández, the President of Argentina, stated the country needs more flexibility to pay the debt of US$45 billion that Argentina owes to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the country’s efforts to slow the effects of climate change should be recognised. In this context, he pointed out that they are willing to link part of the payment to essential investments in green infrastructure. Fernández also declared that Argentina cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 27 per cent since 2016, as promised. 

“The health crisis of the pandemic only exposed a much bigger crisis affecting the environment, society and the economy. We must create mechanisms to pay for ecosystem services, swapping debt for climate action and installing the concept of environmental debt,” said Fernández during the COP26 United Nations Climate Summit in Glasgow at the Forum gathering over 120 leaders.

In addition to Argentina’s demand, Ecuador’s President Guillermo Lasso asked for the country’s foreign debts to be swapped for conserving the Galapagos Islands. Lasso declared that the marine reserve of the Galapagos Islands which are considered a natural treasure would be expanded by 60,000 square kilometres and required its creditors the debts of the country to be regulated as the conservation debt for the archipelago. 

“We estimate it will be the biggest debt swap for conservation that has taken place globally until now,” Lasso said during a news conference on the sidelines of the COP26 Summit in Glasgow.

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Latin American Countries Are Facing ‘’Internal Climate Migration’’

close-up photography of world map

22 November 2021 – by Deniz Saygi

Climate change impacts every area involved with human interaction, and these suffering areas could force people to migrate in distress. Regarding these unfortunate events, the governments are expected to declare an emergence of hotspots where livelihoods are threatened by climate change as early as 2030. These hotspots will continue to intensify and expand – if governments will not take action to reduce climate emissions. 

Today, climate change is emerging as a dominant cause of internal migration throughout Latin American countries. According to the Groundswell Report, internal climate migrants could number over 17 million, representing up to 2.6 per cent of the region of South America’s total population. 

In the recent past, floods and landslides displaced 295,000 people in Brazil, while Hurricane Dorian caused 465,000 new displacements in seven countries in the Caribbean. Also, concerning the decrease in the production of crops and food shortages, Guatemalan people were forced to migrate after droughts and floods. 

Currently, this internal migration process is gradually evolving amongst Latin American countries since the region is vulnerable to the effects of climate change. By 2030, Latin Americans could lose their jobs (2.5 million jobs, in particular) because of the increasing heatwaves. Moreover, it is estimated that the damages caused by climate change and global warming will cost the countries in the region US$ 100 billion per annum by 2050. Therefore, internal migration amongst the regions is inevitable. 

To incorporate the internal migration component into their climate change strategies and regulations, some Latin American countries are making progress: For example, Peru’s Framework Law on Climate Change calls for addressing forced migration as a result of negative climate impacts. Additionally, Honduras’s National Strategy for Climate Change proposes to establish both legal and institutional frameworks for the adaptation strategies with regard to the migrations due to climate change. 

Needless to say, the governments must promote adaptation measures to reduce vulnerability and prevent internal migration for the effects of climate change in the regions where the local people and small scale industries suffer most. Also, a more inclusive focus on adaptation and resilience strategies is needed to support vulnerable communities at risk of migration between Latin American countries.

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Paraguay Faces the Most Critical Level of Drought in its History

brown soil

26 October 2021 – by Deniz Saygi

The Paraná River – which winds through southeastern Brazil, Paraguay, southeastern Uruguay, and northern Argentina – is at its lowest level since 1944 and has been experiencing severe drought since 2019. In comparison with the other countries, Paraguay suffers the most because of this unfortunate situation since the country is landlocked and mostly relies on its rivers concerning its many social, environmental, and commercial services. As a consequence, a state of emergency on the Paraná River has been declared by the government. Moreover, the CAF-Development Bank of Latin America listed Paraguay as the most vulnerable country to climate emergency amongst the South American countries. If the necessary precautions are not taken, the increase in the level of drought will bring uncontrollable difficulties in the economies of South American countries, which have local development models to a large extent, and will cause extreme losses, especially in regions regarding rich biodiversity hotspots such as the Amazons.

Juan Carlos Muñoz, director of Paraguay’s National Shipping and Ports Administration Body (ANNP) states that the drought has affected the economy tremendously. Mr Muñoz also declares that the shipping sector regarding river transport has faced a great loss of revenue (nearly $100 million). Furthermore, there is a record of enormous deforestation mainly caused by both state-propelled soybean and cattle ranching booms. These sectors are currently having struggles for exporting their products by river transport due to the drought levels of the Paraná River.

Roger Monte Domecq, a hydrology professor at the National University of Asunción, underlines the increasing evidence that proves the droughts all across the region are caused by human-driven factors. Domecq also said it is a necessity that more studies are needed to be conducted in order to determine the specific impacts of global warming, high levels of deforestation and land-use transformation observed across the region – particularly in the Amazon area where the water cycle feeds precipitation within the Paraná Basin is being disrupted. According to Domecq, there are no significant rain periods that will be coming next few months. ”There is no end to the drought sight. The weather phenomenon known as La Niña – which brings dry weather to the Paraná Basin – is looming,” he said.

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Scientists Confirm That Amazon is Now Emitting More CO2 Than It is Absorbing

aerial view of green trees and river during daytime

24 August 2021 – by Evelyn Workman

A recent study has revealed that significant parts of the Amazon rainforest are now emitting more carbon dioxide than it absorbs. Up until recently, the Amazon has been one of the most important sinks of CO2, assisting in the absorption of the emissions causing climate change, however, this new research demonstrates that the Amazon is actually starting to help accelerate climate change.

The causes of this shift from carbon sink to carbon source are investigated in the study, published in Nature in July. It found that most of the emissions are caused by fires, many of which are deliberately started to clear land for beef and soy production. In addition to the fires, hotter temperatures and droughts also contribute to the forest becoming a CO2 source.

The researchers measured CO2 above the rainforest canopy at four different locations during the period from 2010 to 2018. At these locations 600 vertical profiles of CO2 were taken up to 4,500 m above the canopy. This allowed the researchers to investigate how the whole Amazon is changing. While previous studies have established that the Amazon’s CO2 uptake has been declining based on ground based measurements, this study is the first to use atmospheric measurements across a vast geographical area.

Lead author and researcher at Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE), Luciana Gatti, says the research highlights some bad news, that “forest burning produces around three times more CO2 than the forest absorbs.” 

Additionally, she emphasised that, “the places where deforestation is 30% or more show carbon emissions 10 times higher than where deforestation is lower than 20%.”

These insights are made even more worrying by the fact that deforestation rates have been higher under Brazil’s current president, Jair Bolsonaro, than under any past administration. And deforestation is showing no sign of halting, with rates hitting a 12 year high in 2020.

“Imagine if we could prohibit fires in the Amazon – it could be a carbon sink,” said Gatti. “But we are doing the opposite – we are accelerating climate change.”

“The worst part is we don’t use science to make decisions,” she said. “People think that converting more land to agriculture will mean more productivity, but in fact we lose productivity because of the negative impact on rain.”

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NGOs File Third Party Interventions to ECHR in support of Duarte Agostinho’s Climate Case

20 May 2021 – by Ben St. Laurent

A landmark case brought by six young Portuguese citizens in November 2020 against 33 signatory states to the 2015 Paris Agreement continues to gain momentum at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). In early May, the European Commissioner for Human Rights and a number of NGOs filed third party interventions to the Court in support of the applicants’ claim. Duarte Agostinho and Others v. Portugal and Others centers on the alleged violation of the applicants’ right to life (article 2) and right to respect for private and family life (article 8) as well as the prohibition of discrimination (article 14) due to the disproportional effects of climate change on younger generations. Due to the urgency of addressing climate change, the applicants won a legal battle confirming the court’s decision to fast-track the case.

The ECHR has constructed a notable body of case law which acknowledges the direct impact of certain environmental issues on human rights, and requires states to mitigate resulting violations of these rights. The ‘environmental admissibility criteria’ for the ECHR, established in Fadeyeva v Russia (2005), stipulates that interference on an applicant’s private life must be concrete and severe, a requirement which the applicants have already satisfied.

There is scientific and governmental consensus that climate change impacts human life, but a state’s legal obligation to mitigate the risk has yet to be established by the Court. By demonstrating causation between the defendant states’ greenhouse gas emissions and global warming induced heatwaves, the Duarte Agostinho case could set a new precedent for a state’s legal obligations to mitigate the effects of climate change. The third party interventions provide the Court with evidence linking national inaction on climate change to ensuing negative impacts on the applicant’s health and human rights.

The group of NGOs that recently filed supportive third party interventions includes Amnesty International, Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe, Germanwatch, Notre Affaire à Tous, and 2Celsius. These organisations have provided evidence supporting the claim that current national contributions will not reduce emissions to a level that will prevent global temperatures from rising above 2°C, in accordance with commitments of the Paris Agreement. According to Wendel Trio, Director of CAN Europe, “Current efforts by our governments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are highly insufficient as the world is still heading for a temperature rise around 2.5°C, alarmingly above the objectives of the Paris Agreement.” The court should appreciate the expert knowledge on this subject as it waits for government defenses which are due by May 27th.