We know that climate change does not affect all areas of the world equally. For this reason, scientists study the impacts of this phenomenon in different parts of the globe to account for the damage and be able to plan and act to minimize it.
In this case, we travel to the so-called Central American Dry Corridor (CSC), where scientists from the University of Costa Rica have been investigating the ecological and social impacts of climate change in this region. What are the repercussions?
Dry Runner
The Dry Corridor covers the entire zone along the Pacific coast of the region from Guanacaste in Costa Rica to northwestern Guatemala.
The research project is led by Dr. Hugo Hidalgo León, researcher and director of the Center for Geophysical Research at the University of Costa Rica (CIGEFI). The research is prompted by the droughts affecting the CSC and other hydroclimatic threats resulting from climate variability caused by climate change. For more information about similar events, you can consult the effects of climate change in Germany.
In some areas of the Dry Corridor, drought conditions are evolving into aridity. Because this area is highly vulnerable to climate change, the geophysical and socioeconomic impacts are more strongly affected by the effects of global warming. The impact of climate change in the Dry Corridor of Central America is particularly severe, as can be seen in the cities that could disappear due to global warming.
Nearly 10 million people live in the Dry Corridor region . These people need food and shelter. Therefore, it is crucial to ensure food security, which is diminished due to recurring and prolonged droughts. Drought leads to extreme poverty, a factor that is linked to plant adaptation to climate change.
The people who live in this area tend to form small families, and their daily lives are threatened by these extreme weather conditions. Forced migration from rural to urban areas across national and regional borders has led to social instability and a potential refugee crisis stemming from social conflict over territory and resources. Furthermore, it is important to consider the impact this migration may have on receiving countries.
Comprehensive Central American Dry Corridor Program
The research carried out by the scientists of the University of Costa Rica has managed to create a Comprehensive Program for the Central American Dry Corridor (PICSC), for which an "Initial coordination meeting and UCREA-PICSC Central American workshop" was held.
The workshop was held in the mini-auditorium of the Center for Geophysical Research (CIGEFI) at the University of Costa Rica (UCR). All the participating academics and researchers from Central America working on this topic attended. The objective of bringing together people studying the same subject in different locations was to compare the varying impacts of climate change across different regions and gather more information on how to mitigate it.
During the activity, both Dr. Hugo Hidalgo León, principal investigator of the project, and researcher Dr. Yosef Gotlieb from the David Yellin College of Education in Israel, presented the scope of the research project and the PICSC.
“We have been conducting research for five years in all the countries involved in the Central American Dry Corridor. The funding provided by the University of Costa Rica is allowing us to meet with colleagues from all these countries. The project is interinstitutional, interregional; it is an international collaboration ,” explained Dr. Gotlieb.
The program aims to gather all the necessary knowledge about the environmental aspects of natural and social resources and how they are affected by the impact of climate change in the Dry Corridor of Central America, since a change in one of them can lead to changes in the others. All resources and ecosystems are connected, which is essential to understanding the differences between climate change and global warming.
The program works on two levels: on the one hand, dealing with the natural level , where resources are managed and conserved, and on the other hand, the human level , where socio-economic problems arising from climate change and its impact are addressed.
The program will begin by increasing the monitoring capacity of air, land and water systems to provide an early warning system. In addition, the optimization of the use of water and land will be increased using technologies from more arid environments. To save water, crop strains that are better adapted to changing conditions will be used.
