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May 1, 2024 · A drought has upended life in several South American cities, leading to water rationing and power cuts as well as forest fires.
Apr 12, 2024 · It’s not unusual for cities in Latin America to face water crises. Bogotá joins Mexico City to its northwest, which could also be on the brink of running out of water, as the combination of...
- 2 min
- Overview
- Climate change’s fiery legacy
- Where forest and city meet
In Chile, more than 130 people have died in this year’s wildfires — the deadliest in the nation’s history. In Colombia last month, wildfire smoke billowed just outside Bogotá, defying the city’s reputation for cold, wet weather. And in Argentina, a wildfire ravaged a forest that is listed as a World Heritage Site by the United Nations cultural organization UNESCO.
These wildfires add to the destruction from record-setting fires in the Amazon in October 2023. This is not a normal pattern: in many parts of the region, wildfires are not part of the landscape’s natural history, except for blazes caused by “occasional lightning strikes”, says Francisco de la Barrera, an environmental scientist at University of Concepción in Chile.
But scientists say that the flames have been fanned by a combination of a strong El Niño climate pattern, a profusion of non-native trees and climate change. Researchers warn that the same factors could put other cities on the continent at risk.
“We are very worried, because each new fire is bigger, more threatening and with an ever-greater impact,” says de la Barrera.
Catastrophic fires have multiple causes, but climate change is one of the key drivers, says climatologist Maisa Rojas Corradi, who is Chile’s environment minister. In the past decade, the country has had 16 megafires, which coincided with “the highest temperatures recorded for central Chile”, Rojas says. A megadrought that descended on the region in 2010 is one of the longest in a millennium, says Wenju Cai, a climatologist at Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, in Melbourne.
Climate change is also cutting cloud cover and shrinking glaciers in the Chilean Andes, says Cai. That means a decrease in reflected sunlight and, as a result, increasing temperatures.
Humans have also provided ample fuel for local wildfires with well-intentioned tree planting. In the twentieth century, eucalyptus trees native to Australia were planted on the hills surrounding Bogotá, to stop heavy erosion, says Dolors Armenteras, a biologist at the National University of Colombia in Bogotá. Eucalyptus was chosen because it grows quickly and adapts well to a variety of conditions.
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Oct 15, 2019 · According to The Nature Conservancy, 16 of Latin America’s 20 largest cities are now under water-related “stress,” and three are in danger of running out of water entirely: São Paulo, Lima and Mexico City.
Booming, concentrated populations in Latin America’s mega-cities are devouring and contaminating their water supplies, forcing officials to seek out increasingly distant sources. In most large cities, over 50% of the water supply is lost through infrastructure leakage.
Feb 9, 2021 · Access to fresh water has become a regular flashpoint throughout Latin America, particularly in its largest cities, and threatens to trigger tensions and even war. Sixteen of the region’s 20 largest cities are experiencing water-related “stress,” and three of its largest – Sao Paulo, Lima, and Mexico City – are in danger of running ...
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Nov 14, 2022 · The World Bank’s recent report, Why Water Matters: Resilient, Inclusive, and Green Growth in Latin America, makes a powerful case for elevating water to the highest levels of national political agendas.
