Chile is no stranger to extreme weather and in recent years, Chile has experienced some of the most drastic changes due in part to climate change. According to SpaceRef, “In the northern part of Chile one of the world’s driest deserts is flooding and in the south some of the planet’s wettest woodlands are burning.” The desert flooding is due to the rains in the Andes. The water is pouring into the Atacama Desert which is normally one of the driest places on Earth. However, due to the flooding, the waterfall that had run dry for 10 years is now once again flowing. In the south, the record-breaking temperatures have caused forest fires burning thousands of acres of land. The high temperatures, low humidity, high winds and drought conditions are the reason why the wildfires are so large.
This is a NASA satellite image of the fires in the southern region of Chile
What has Chile done about the recent extreme weather conditions that have impacted the country? In the south, where the extreme temperatures have caused hundreds of fires, the government has declared some regions a disaster area to assist with funding to combat the destruction. In the northern region that has been impacted by flooding, President Sebastian Pinera declared a “zone of emergency” to assist the region devastated by the heavy rains. Moving forward, more needs to be done in Chile to keep up with climate change. In a Straight Times article, Park Williams, a hydroclimatologist at Columbia University in New York quoted, "Chile needs to be thinking about how to adapt to climate change, as it has such an isolated climate that makes it more vulnerable to droughts. For the last several decades, temperatures have risen, and precipitation has declined in central Chile, making it more susceptible to wildfires."
Time will tell if Chile can afford to keep neglecting the ongoing issue of extreme weather. For now, it seems that there are no pro-active solutions to the problem.
References:
Extreme Weather in Chile Causing Catastrophic Fires - SpaceRef
https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2019/extreme-weather-in-chile-causing-catastrophic-fires
World's driest desert floods as extreme weather hits Chile | The Straits Times
Hello Serena!
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting such a great blog about Chile! No wonder why the country name is Chile, it is now clear why, and i can imagine because its hot weather, I understand now that despite the hot and dry weather Chile remains the home for almost third of the world few remaining tracts of relatively undisturbed temperate and rain forests. Unlike my country Egypt that has 96% of its area covered with desert, along with lack of forests presence.
It is very cool to kow that Chile despite its extreme dry and hot climate, the country still own a good area of it's land covered with trees and forests, which are beneficial to fight climate change, but it is also sad that the hot weather can also expose the country to massive wild fires!
Thank you for posting, please keep up the good work!
Hi Serena,
ReplyDeleteOverall, your blog was interesting. I was surprised at how much climate change has affected Chile. I understand that the rising temperatures are what are causing the fires there, but it makes me wonder how hot it is in Chile.