Climate change threatens 41 million people in coastal areas of Latin America and the Caribbean

Tens of millions of people living in low-lying coastal areas in Latin America and the Caribbean face the consequences of extreme weather events that threaten their lives and livelihoods, as well as the hospitals they depend on, according to a new study of the Population Fund of the United Nations (UNFPA).

The analysis reveals that some 41 million people living in coastal areas are exposed to life-threatening storms and floods. This represents 6% of the region’s population.

The agency identified the coastal communities more exposed to hazards, such as hurricanes and other increasingly frequent and severe storms due to climate change, using satellite images, geospatial data and population estimates.

Disruption of healthcare

The aftermath of extreme weather events often causes widespread flooding that destroys homes and businesses and disrupts essential services such as healthcare.

Additionally, women and girls are often disproportionately affected, displaced from their communities and safe spaces. and unable to access family planning services, safe births or protection from gender violence.

The analysis also shows that 1,448 hospitals vital for maternal health and family planning are located in low-lying coastal areas more prone to natural hazards:

• In Aruba and the Cayman Islands, Suriname, Bahamas and Guyana, more than 80% of hospitals are located in low-lying coastal areas
• In the rest of the Caribbean and Latin America, the countries with the highest number of hospitals in low-lying coastal areas are Brazil, with 519 (7.2%) facilities, Mexico, with 159 (5.4%) facilities, and Haiti, with 133 ( 10%) facilities, and Ecuador, with 130 (11.9%) facilities

“Climate change hits women and girls hardest and exacerbates existing inequalities. Millions of poor and vulnerable women and girls, who They are the least responsible for the climate crisispay a high price when climate-related disasters hit and disrupt essential health and protection services, as well as livelihoods,” said the agency’s executive director, Natalia Kanem.

Increased investment and data collection

The agency presented this data at the Small Island Developing States conference in Antigua and Barbuda, and indicated that it called for greater investment and technical assistance to improve data collection on the impact of the climate crisis on women and girls and for Help vulnerable countries build climate-resilient health systems.

In this sense, the organization recalled that the climate crisis represents an existential threat for these countries. In several of them, Bahamas, Suriname, Guyana, more than 80% of the population lives in low-lying coastal areas, which are up to 10 meters above sea level.

The conference coincides with the start of the Atlantic hurricane season, which is expected to be “extraordinary,” according to the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The agency also indicated that it is using its population data with satellite images and geospatial data to provide humanitarian response teams with critical information about vulnerable communities, as it did in Honduras after Hurricane Iota in 2020.

UNFPA population modeling has also been used to identify communities most at risk due to river flooding near the Panama-Costa Rica border, as well as to map the exposure of the population of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to volcanic eruptions.