Climate Change Impacts in El Salvador

As our climate changes at such a rapid rate, it causes changes and reactions within our environment and there are very many impacts that climate change could affect in the near future. Glaciers and permafrost may melt, rivers will flood while others run dry, the coast will erode, ecosystems will be destroyed when they can no longer survive or are destroyed by forest fires, fish populations will continue to decline, and food production will suffer having a great affect on our economies and health. El Salvador is in a rather good placement on the globe to be unaffected by most of these occurrences, but the climate will still be impacted and because of globalization ever country will suffer from the way others are affected. Specifically El Salvador is expected to experience more extreme precipitation causing flooding and erosion, a decrease in food production and quality, and spread of vector-borne diseases which are diseases spread through the insects that bite us. El Salvador will have plenty to deal with as the climate changes, but through government planning and warning systems, the effects can be managed.



The next article I read discussing this topic focused on the storm cells forming over the Caribbean but the drying of much of Central America. During this climate change the pacific ocean boarding El Salvador is expected to increase in heat as the average temperature of the earth rises with it. With the hotter temperatures in this area the dry season is expected to become even dryer and longer while the storms of the wet season are expected to become more intense. This dry weather will cause the climate of the area to become less tropic and more desert like. The weather of Central America is predicted to get more extreme which will not benefit the people and organisms living here.


In El Salvador the immediate danger of climate change especially the change in temperature and precipitation is considered inevitable at the way we are moving with high confidence. These projects predict that the effects will be seen by 2100, which means it could even happen in our lifetime. Changes in the streamflow and water availability have already been seen and if climate change continues as predicted this will have a major impact on water supplies of cities, hydroelectric plants, and agriculture. The poverty and political instability of Central and South America contributes to lack of environmental care or concern. Although things have been getting better in recent years, deforestation is still killing ecosystems and contributing green house gases to the atmosphere while limiting the earths ability to absorb and handle these chemicals. With a 45% poverty level many turn to destroying forests for farm land and are not concerned with negative long term effects of this practice. On top of this the overall health of the area will continue to decline along with this climate change. Polutants in the air will contribute to respiratory and heart problems and water and insect borne diseases will begin to increase and spread. With some adaptation and conservation this can be limited or stopped, but it needs to be a world wide effort or in just a few years the climate could become much worse.

The most interesting aspect of the article about climate change in Central and South America is how it will affect the supply of water and its distribution. Water is an important part any living persons life, but climate change is predicted to have a major effect of the freshwater of this region. The water is so important to the region, not only because people need it to survive and it is essential to growing crops, but it is also a major supplier of energy to the area. 60% or the regions electricity comes from hydropower generation. With a decrease in water supply due to climate changes effect on precipitation, not only will people be thirsty and hungry but they won't have electricity either. Water supplies in the major rivers of El Salvador, the Rio Grande and the Lempa River, are expected to drop 70% and 24% respectively. While the population continues to increase water will continue to decrease and this will have more and more of a harsh impact on the region. Without water what would we do? That is why water is such an important part to examine and so interesting when comparing effects of climate change.