Attachments
REGIONAL: CLIMATE CHANGE-INDUCED DISPLACEMENT
KEY FIGURES
2.3M CHILDREN DISPLACED BY CLIMATE-RELATED EVENTS BETWEEN 2016 AND 2021
Climate change and weather-related disasters are fuelling displacement across Latin America and the Caribbean.
A global analysis by UNICEF on children displaced by climate events reports that 2.3 million children have been displaced in the region by weatherrelated disasters, such as floods, storms, droughts and wildfires, between 2016 and 2021. This is approximately 1,050 child displacements per day. By 2050, over 17 million people in Latin America could be forced to migrate to escape the impacts of slow-onset climate change, according to the World Bank. UNICEF projects that floods alone will displace 4.6 million children in the LAC region over the next 30 years. Considering that climate change is expected to increase both the frequency and intensity of extreme climate events, this figure is likely to be significantly higher. Storms are already becoming more frequent in the region. In 2021, the 30-year average for the Atlantic Hurricane season increased to 14 named storms, 7 hurricanes and 3 major hurricanes (the 1881-2010 averages were 12 storms, 6 hurricanes and 3 major hurricanes). Between 2014 and 2018, a series of catastrophic tropical cyclones hit the Caribbean causing damage to homes, infrastructure and economies, and internally displacing some 3.4 million people. The impending impacts of climate change come amid a context of increased insecurity, inequality, violence and economic volatility as well as a rapidly growing migration crisis. In such a risk-interconnected world, shocks cascade and compound in complex ways, with broad social, economic and environmental implications. UNICEF calls on governments, donors, development partners and private sector to protect and prioritize children and young people in climate response and prepare for a climate-changed world.
REGIONAL: EL NIÑO
KEY FIGURES
1.6M PEOPLE COULD SEE THEIR FOOD SECURITY AFFECTED BY EL NIÑO IN CENTRAL AMERICA
This year’s El Niño event is expected to have significant effects on acute food security in Latin America and the Caribbean. The latest report from the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) anticipates significant impacts in Central America, where own-produced crops have the largest contribution to household food needs. In the Dry Corridor and northern Honduras, subsistence farmers are expected to lose up to 25 per cent of their crops this year, exacerbating Crisis (IPC Phase 3) levels of hunger. In Nicaragua, an estimated 50 per cent of crops have already been affected by drought conditions brought on by El Niño. Since May/June, El Niño has suppressed seasonal rains and brought high temperatures. The World Food Programme (WFP) projects that the food security and nutrition of 1.6 million people in Central America (Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua) will potentially be affected by El Niño. By March 2024, FEWS NET predicts that between 1.7 and 2.7 million people will be in need of food assistance across El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua.
In the Caribbean, El Niño and an unusually warm Tropical North Atlantic continue to amplify heat stress. Unprecedented high temperatures are affecting soil and water conditions, impacting worker productivity and income, leading to fluctuations in food prices and trade, and ultimately affecting the availability, accessibility, and affordability of key crops, fish stocks, and livestock. According to the latest report from the Caribbean Drought and Precipitation Monitoring Network (CDPMN), drought concerns have now emerged, particularly throughout the southeastern Caribbean. Long-term drought is anticipated to evolve by the end of November in western Belize, Dominica, southern French Guiana, Martinique, southeast Puerto Rico, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago.
These islands are likely to experience lower than usual water levels in large reservoirs, large rivers and groundwater, stressing water availability for both human consumption and agricultural uses.
SOUTH AMERICA: EXTREME HEAT
KEY FIGURES
45°C IN BOLIVIA, THE HIGHEST WINTER TEMPERATURE EVER RECORDED IN THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE
Extreme heat across South America can be attributed to human-caused climate change. According to a study conducted by 12 researchers as part of the World Weather Attribution group, human-caused climate change made the recent heat in South America at least 100 times more likely. In August and September, large parts of South America experienced unusually extreme heat, with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius in Brazil,
Bolivia, Argentina and Paraguay. In August, Bolivia recorded a staggering 45 degrees Celsius, the highest winter temperature ever recorded in the Southern Hemisphere. Paraguay also recorded its highest winter temperature of 41.9 degrees Celsius.
In Brazil, four heat-related deaths were reported, though the total number of deaths remains unknown. Wildfires have also been detected in Bolivia, Paraguay and Brazil. While El Niño has had some influence on the high temperatures, the study found this was relatively small compared to the influence of climate change. The researchers established that climate change was the main driver of the heat, increasing both the likelihood of heatwaves as well as the maximum temperatures by approximately 1.4 to 4.3 degrees Celsius. They also warn that without a rapid reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, heat episodes such as these will become more frequent and extreme.
Disclaimer
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
To learn more about OCHA’s activities, please visit https://www.unocha.org/.
Source link : https://reliefweb.int/report/nicaragua/latin-america-caribbean-weekly-situation-update-10-october-2023
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Publish date : 2023-10-10 03:00:00
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