Bolivia Climate Change
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Bolivia Climate Location
Bolivia’s climate backdrop for the present climatology, 1991-2020, based on historical data. In order to evaluate future climate scenarios, information should be used to develop a good understanding of existing climatic conditions. The Climatic Research Unit (CRU) of the University of East Anglia produces observed, historical data. The historical data is displayed at a resolution of 0.5o x 0.5o (50km x 50km).
Bolivia’s topography varies from 5,000 meters above sea level in the rocky Andes Mountains, to Inter-Andean Valleys, to the Amazonian and Chacoan lowlands’ plains, which are less than 500 meters above sea level. As a result, the country is divided into three topographical/climatological regions: the Andean area and arid mountains in the west; sub-Andean and semi-tropical valleys in the center third; and tropical lowlands in the east.
Rainfall is highest in the summer in most regions, and annual levels tend to decrease from north to south. Bolivian temperatures are influenced by altitude and have little seasonal change. El Nio Southern Oscillation affects Bolivia as well (ENSO). During the summer, La Nia occurrences, for example, are known to bring cold fronts and heavy rains.
Bolivia Climate Background
Bolivia Climate Change,Depending on the geography and height, Bolivia has a variety of climates. In the plains and lowlands, the climate is practically equatorial in the far north (i.e. hot all year and with a short dry season) and tropical in the center-south (i.e. with a longer dry season, which is also colder). Instead, the temperature on the plateau and in the Andean high peaks is cooler and more arid.
Pantanal climate change
Bolivia is located in the Southern Hemisphere, albeit in tropical latitudes, and hence has seasons that are the opposite of those in the Northern Hemisphere.
Temperature
There have been positive tendencies for warm nights and negative trends for cold nights. The average yearly temperature has risen at a rate of 0.1°C per decade since 1939. Changes in temperature and humidity have caused significant glacier retreat in the Bolivian mountains. The Chacaltaya glacier has lost half of its surface area and two-thirds of its volume since the mid-1990s. Similarly, the Charquini glacier has lost 47.4% of its surface area since 1940.
Precipitation
In the Bolivian Amazonia, mean annual precipitation has increased by 15% since 1970. The rainy season has been postponed till later in the year. There has been a modest decrease in overall rainfall amount, and monthly distribution has fluctuated greatly, mainly from December to February.
The northernmost region of Bolivia (the Pando department, as well as the northern parts of the Beni and La Paz departments) is covered in rainforests and has a climate that is virtually equatorial. In actuality, it is hot and humid all year, with just a few degrees of difference in temperature between the coldest and warmest months, ranging from 24 °C (75 °F) in the coldest months to 27 °C (81 °F) in the warmest.
There’s also a lot of rain, with over 1,500 millimeters (60 inches) per year, and a short dry season from June to August, with less than 50 millimeters (2 inches) of rain per month. From November through March, the rains are the heaviest.The average precipitation at Cobija, near the Brazilian border, is shown below.
Bolivia Climate change
Bolivia is located in the center of South America, situated between the high peaks of the Andes (to the west) and the Amazonian jungle (to the east) (on its east). Bolivia has a diverse landscape and climate due to its position. People from all walks of life are being confronted with the threat of climate change in unexpected ways.
Bolivia’s general temperatures have declined, especially in the highlands, in contrast to the rest of the world’s pattern of rising temperatures. Bolivia’s changing climate has had unanticipated consequences, primarily in the form of diminished cloud cover and precipitation in the highlands.
The impact of climate change on people, particularly the poor and impoverished in Bolivia, is a major worry. Any abrupt change in a resource’s quantity has an economic cost. To accommodate changes, infrastructure must be adjusted. The financial cost is indisputable. It cannot be argued that increasing scarcity has a disproportionate impact on the poor.
In Bolivia, climate change has resulted in glacial melt, droughts, floods, forest fires, erosion, and a slew of other problems that have disproportionately affected the poor. Bolivia’s economy has suffered as a result, and many issues for the poor have arisen in both rural and urban areas.
To comprehend the influence of climate change on Bolivia, one must first comprehend the country’s geology and existing climate. “Despite being totally inside the tropics, Bolivia offers practically every possible variety of climate, ranging from Andean glaciers to salt deserts to sweltering rainforest.” 7 According to O’Hare and Rivas (2007), the country can be divided into three main altitude zones.
(1) the Andes (4,000–6,000 m), with their chilly, lofty mountains, valleys, and interior plains, such as the altiplano (3,000–4,000 m).
(2) the eastern lowlands, which are below 1,000 m and covered with lowland moist tropical forest, despite the clearing of huge tracts, particularly in the west.
(3) a milder and less humid climate in the narrower central valley (1,000–3,000 m) between the Andean highlands and the eastern tropical lowlands.” Climate change will have a wide range of consequences in different parts of the country.
Warming/cooling patterns exhibit a distinct geographical distribution, with highland stations in Bolivia’s southwestern region consistently cooling and lowland areas to the north and east displaying minor warming. This is supported by statistics from neighboring nations, which show cooling in various sections of Peru and Chile while warming in Brazil.” 9 Surprisingly, climate change has not resulted in an increase in temperatures in Bolivia.
Bolivia Climate Change and Disaster Risks
The combination of climate-related hazards (including hazardous occurrences and trends), community vulnerability (susceptibility to harm and lack of capacity to adapt), and human and natural system exposure is used to assess overall risks from climate-related consequences. Hazards, exposure, and susceptibility are driven by changes in the climatic system and socioeconomic activities, including adaptation and mitigation actions.
The number of natural disasters in Bolivia has increased as a result of climate change. Natural catastrophes have a disproportionately negative impact on the poor, who have less ability to respond to them and live in more hostile locations than the wealthy. “Bolivia sees a wide array of ‘natural’ disasters,” according to Researcher report. Drought in Chaco, flooding in the Amazon, and terrible hailstorms in the highlands are among them. Bolivia was among the top ten countries most impacted by catastrophes for the first time in 2007.
Agriculture
Unexpected extremes produce a lack of security in rural regions, making them particularly vulnerable to climate change. “Bolivians do far better in hot places than in cold areas, even when other criteria such as educational attainment and urbanization levels are taken into account. “People in the hottest regions can consume nearly twice as much as people in the coldest regions.
On the surface, it appears that warmer temperatures are beneficial to the country. The issue is that changes, particularly rapid changes, come at a price.In warmer locations, this has resulted in an increase in a variety of new diseases that harm agriculture, which, as previously stated, is what many of the poor rely on.
The colder winters in the already chilly highlands could have a negative impact on the Bolivian highlands’ primarily poor and indigenous inhabitants, as one of their key concerns and constraints on agricultural productivity.
water
Bolivia Climate Change,Another issue with climate change is its effect on water supply. This has a greater impact on urban areas than on rural ones since demand is growing due to a high birthrate and migration from rural areas to cities, all while supply is shrinking. According to Weinberg (2010), the country will undoubtedly experience severe water shortages in the near future.
Bolivia Coastal Risks
The planet’s systematic warming is directly driving global mean sea level to rise in two basic ways: (1) melting mountain glaciers and polar ice sheets are adding water to the ocean, and (2) warming of the ocean water causes expansion and therefore greater volume. Since 1880, the global mean sea level has risen roughly 210–240 millimeters (mm), with about a third of it occurring in the previous two and a half decades. The annual growth is currently around 3mm each year.
Natural variability in area winds and ocean currents causes regional fluctuations, which can last for days, months, or even decades. However, additional factors such as ground uplift (e.g., ongoing rebound from Ice Age glacier weight), changes in water tables owing to water extraction or other water management, and even the effects of local erosion can all play a role locally.
Rising sea levels put a strain on both the physical coastline and coastal ecosystems. Freshwater aquifers, which support municipal and agricultural water supplies as well as natural ecosystems, can be contaminated by saltwater incursions. Because there is a significant lag between attaining equilibrium and global temperatures continuing to rise, sea level will continue to rise for a long time. The magnitude of the rise will be heavily influenced by future carbon dioxide emissions and global warming, and the speed of the rise may be progressively influenced by glacier and ice sheet melting.
Bolivia Climate Change and Environment Degradation
Deforestation in Bolivia
Climate change, when combined with deforestation, can have a devastating effect on the environment. When the two are combined, it can result in rapid land degradation due to increased erosion. This is especially evident in Bolivia’s Amazon region. According to Oxfam International (2009, p. 10), deforestation has increased to around 300,000 hectares per year since 1990, and this “increases the devastation caused by flooding as natural measures of protection have been removed,” in addition to boosting greenhouse gas emissions. The impact of deforestation on the poor, especially when combined with climate change, is unclear.
How have the citizens of Bolivia been affected by deforestation or Disaster Risks?
It’s worth noting that the majority of deforested land has been used for agricultural production, primarily soya or grazing, but whether the negative consequences of flooding and erosion balance the benefits of wider areas of agricultural production remains to be seen. Climate change has also been blamed for an increase in the number of forest fires. 500,000 hectares of woodland were burned down in 2005 due to uncontrolled fires during a drought. “In just 15 days, the Vaca Diez province of Beni had one of the biggest forest fires in its history, consuming 100,000 hectares of forest.
This occurred amid one of the greatest droughts the Amazon has ever experienced, which was brought on by rising sea surface temperatures in the North Atlantic. Furthermore, “in the future, the presence of prolonged dry periods combined with changing characteristics in wooded areas (dry species of ecosystems that easily catch fire) and populated zones would enhance the conditions for a greater number of forest fires.
” Environmental degradation, such as erosion and forest fires, occurs when climate change is combined with deforestation and changing natural habitats. Both of these have a negative impact on the poor.Furthermore, both situations emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, resulting in a vicious cycle in which climate change causes environmental degradation, which in turn promotes climate change.
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Bolivia Climate Change Concern
Bolivia’s fascinating facts Bolivia is confronted with numerous obstacles in coping with climate change and its numerous consequences. Mostly, they entail reacting to the inevitable changes that will occur, such as natural disasters, glacier melt, forest difficulties, agricultural degradation, and general economic harm. Bolivia’s GDP has suffered a setback, the poor have gotten even impoverished, and inequality has increased. Poor Bolivians’ quality of life has deteriorated, and this deterioration is due to something that the poor themselves have little influence over and little control over.
Changes in the climate Bolivia is now faced with the task of seeking to regain control of a situation in which it has played the least role. Bolivia has a responsibility itself to address the issue of climate change, but the rich countries that are responsible for the majority of climate change have an even greater responsibility to Bolivia. These countries should help Bolivia to alleviate some of the problems they have created.
It’s a shame that one of the world’s poorest countries is stuck with an issue generated by the world’s wealthiest. Climate change is rightly viewed as a tragedy of the commons, but the effects on all are unequal in this case because Bolivia suffers the brunt of the cost.
The poorest people in this underdeveloped country will be the hardest hit. The most obvious option is to concentrate on environmental control and poverty-reduction measures. These are simple remedies, but they are all the more important now that the concerns caused by climate change have been exposed. “One of the reasons why reducing the number of people living in poverty is so crucial in the long run is because impoverished men and women are and will continue to suffer the burden of climate change.
Reference – World bank climate knowledge, UNDP Climate Adoption
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