American Responses to Climate Change
Resource information
Climate change is already a reality.
This is evidenced by the acceleration of global temperature
increases, the melting of ice and snow covers, and rising
sea levels. Latin America and the Caribbean region (LCR) are
not exempt from these trends, as illustrated by the changes
in precipitation patterns that are already being reported in
the region, as well as by observations of rising
temperatures, the rapid melting of Andean tropical glaciers,
and an increasing number of extreme weather events. The most
important force behind climate change is the rising
concentration of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the earth's
atmosphere driven mainly by manmade emissions of carbon
dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases. Because of inertia
in the climate system, the planet is likely to continue
warming over the twenty-first century, and unless emissions
are significantly reduced, this process could accelerate,
with potentially very serious consequences for nature and
mankind. There is still, however, a high degree of
uncertainty regarding the specific drivers, timing, and
impact of global climate change, as well as about the costs
and efficacy of actions aimed at either mitigating it or
dealing with its physical and economic impacts. As a result,
it is very hard, at this point, to unambiguously determine
economically efficient emission pathways for which the
benefits of actions to mitigate climate change will exceed
the costs of those actions. Despite these problems and
uncertainties, there is increasing evidence suggesting that
urgent action is needed in order to alter current emission
trends so as to avoid reaching GHG concentration levels that
could trigger large and irreversible damages. Negotiations
are under way and are scheduled to be concluded in 2012 with
a new agreement on a way forward. At the same time,
individual countries are also considering how to respond in
their own domestic policy to the challenges of climate
change. LCR governments and civil society should be well
informed about the potential costs and benefits of climate
change and their options for decisions that will need to be
made over the next decades as well as the global context in
which these decisions must be taken. At the same time, the
global community needs to be better informed about the
unique perspective of the LCR, problems the region will
face, potential contributions the region can make to combat
global warming, and how to unlock the region's full
potential so as to enable it to maximize its contribution
while continuing to grow and reduce poverty. This report
seeks to help fill both these needs.
