Impactos del cambio climático en América Latina y el Caribe

The document examines the diverse impacts of climate change in Latin America and the Caribbean, highlighting vulnerabilities in rural communities, women, education, and public health. It discusses the role of ocean warming in collapsing fisheries, the link between deforestation and zoonotic diseases, and the necessity of shifting from technocratic to participatory water governance. The report emphasizes the 'Anthropocene' as a geological era driven by human activity and argues for a transdisciplinary approach to science that integrates local and indigenous knowledge to create effective public policies.

• Rural and indigenous communities in Latin America and the Caribbean are disproportionately affected by nature extraction and climate instability, often remaining disconnected from international climate forums. In Colombia's María La Baja and Argentina's Chaco, projects using 'coproduction' of knowledge between scientists and locals have helped identify threats and implement environmental monitoring.
• Ocean warming in the Southwest Atlantic, particularly along the coasts of Brazil, Uruguay, and northern Argentina, has caused mass mortality of cold-water species and increased the frequency of harmful algal blooms (red tides). In Uruguay, this led to the closure of the yellow clam fishery in La Coronilla in 1994, forcing fishers to migrate or diversify their livelihoods.
• Rural women in Latin America and the Caribbean face higher vulnerability to climate disasters due to structural gender inequalities and limited access to land, credit, and technical assistance. For example, in Jamaica's Blue Mountains, women coffee farmers suffer economic losses from irregular rainfall and pests, while facing barriers to leadership and technical training compared to men.
• Climate change severely disrupts education by destroying school infrastructure and interrupting learning. In 2016, Hurricane Matthew damaged 300 schools in Haiti, and in 2021, Hurricanes Eta and Iota affected 340 schools in Guatemala and 76 in Nicaragua. Extreme heat also negatively impacts children's cognitive development and concentration.
• Climate change is a primary driver of migration in the Americas, with an estimated 17 million people in Latin America potentially migrating due to climate factors by 2050. Between 1998 and 2020, over 277 million people in the region were directly affected by climatic and geophysical phenomena.
• The Amazon rainforest is trapped in a vicious cycle where climate change makes forests drier and more prone to fires, which in turn release CO2 and further accelerate warming. In the Brazilian Amazon, an average of over 65,000 km² burn annually, significantly reducing the region's carbon storage capacity.
• Hydroelectric dams in the Paraná River basin, while providing 40% of Brazil's electricity capacity, negatively impact aquatic biodiversity and the livelihoods of fishers. Climate change is projected to reduce average river flows by 7% to 40%, threatening both energy security and ecosystem health.
• The 'Anthropocene' is described as a new geological epoch where human activity—specifically the shift to a fossil economy since the Industrial Revolution—has become a global transformative force. This era is characterized by the 'Great Acceleration' since 1950, involving exponential growth in energy use, population, and greenhouse gas emissions.
• Environmental degradation and habitat loss increase the risk of zoonotic diseases. The report notes that the migration of wild species due to climate change can lead to new viral exchanges between species, potentially triggering pandemics. In the Americas, dengue is appearing in previously cold areas like the tropical Andes and cities in the Southern Cone.
• Water governance in Latin America is transitioning from centralized, technocratic models to decentralized, participatory ones. In Uruguay, the Laguna del Cisne basin commission serves as a model for coordinating government, users, and civil society to protect water quality from pesticide contamination.

APA

Giorgi, J., & Torres, I. (n.d.). Impactos del cambio climático en América Latina y el Caribe. Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research. https://iai.int/administrador/assets/images/ckfinder/files/ES-Impactos%20del%20cambio%20clim%C3%A1tico.pdf

Chicago

Giorgi, Jerónimo, and Irene Torres. Impactos del cambio climático en América Latina y el Caribe. Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research, n.d. https://iai.int/administrador/assets/images/ckfinder/files/ES-Impactos%20del%20cambio%20clim%C3%A1tico.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Giorgi |first1=Jerónimo |last2=Torres |first2=Irene |title=Impactos del cambio climático en América Latina y el Caribe |publisher=Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research |url=https://iai.int/administrador/assets/images/ckfinder/files/ES-Impactos%20del%20cambio%20clim%C3%A1tico.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{giorgindimpactos, author = {Giorgi, Jerónimo and Torres, Irene}, title = {{Impactos del cambio climático en América Latina y el Caribe}}, institution = {Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research}, url = {https://iai.int/administrador/assets/images/ckfinder/files/ES-Impactos%20del%20cambio%20clim%C3%A1tico.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }