According to the new report from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Latin America and the Caribbean will suffer the most extreme impacts of climate change and situation will continue to worsen if urgent halt in greenhouse emission gases is not attained.

The intense drought in the southern Amazonia and the Pantanal region was the worst in the last 50 years, and the record of hurricanes and floods in Central America during 2020 account for the new normal for Latin America.

In addition, the WMO highlighted that 2020 was among the three warmest years in Central America and the Caribbean, and the second warmest year in South America.

Between 1998 and 2020, climate-related and geophysical events resulted in the loss of over 312,000 lives and directly affected more than 277 million people.

Widespread drought across Latin America and the Caribbean had significant impacts, including lowering rivers level, thus hampering inland shipping routes, reduced crop yields and food production, leading to worsening food insecurity in many areas. Precipitation deficits are particularly serious for the Caribbean region, as several of its territories are on the global list of top water-stressed countries.

pgh/Pll/mem / ifb