A drainage system at Lake Palcacoha near Huaraz, Peru, is meant to reduce the risk that glacial melt will cause a deadly landslide like one that struck the city in 1941. (Photo by Barbara Fraser)
As cross-border environmental problems and related socioeconomic pressures deepen in Latin America, the year 2020 would seem an ideal time for countries in the region to intensify work with each other and the rest of the world on common solutions. Unfortunately, political and ideological fragmentation look likely to hamper coordinated, region-wide responses in the year ahead, experts say. Among the most urgent problems requiring a collective response is global warming. In Central America, climate change is driving prolonged drought in countries including El Salvador and Honduras, causing migration within the region and to the United States. In the Amazon, carbon emissions are rising and woodlands are drying due to increased deforestation in countries like Brazil and Peru despite international commitments to curb greenhouse-gas output. The coming decade will be crucial for reducing greenhouse emissions, and 2020 is the deadline for countries to explain how they will help... [Log in to read more]
