Earth Day came and went this month with little fanfare, a blip on the radar of public conscience overshadowed by breaking international news. Of course, Mother Nature has a way of making herself heard, and the realities of climate change are roaring back as thousands of families across Colombia are left homeless with the start of another violent rainy season.
Click to view larger. Image will open in a separate window.
After the first half of April, normally considered to be the beginning of the Spring rainy season in Colombia, broke records for sunshine, powerful storms have caused at least two deaths and left thousands of families homeless, particularly in the departments of Chocó and Norte de Santander, according to reports from Venezuelan news organization AVN. Flooding in 2010 and 2011, worsened by the La Niña phenomenon, caused dozens of deaths, left more than a million Colombians homeless and led to hundreds of millions of dollars worth of damage.
Ironically, an unusually severe dry season was cause for concern just weeks ago as drought conditions in the Caribbean region left normally lush coastlines a drab shade of brown and exacerbated water shortages in Cartagena and other cities. Outside of Bogotá, more than 30 towns in the department of Cundinamarca were left without potable water for extended periods of time in early April.
While it’s impossible to link individual weather events to climate change, the dramatic swings between drought and flooding in Colombia seem unlikely to diminish as the planet continues to heat up, which raises the question of what the nation is doing to help mitigate its environmental footprint and prepare for the future.
Not all of the news is bad. A report from the United States Energy Information Administration lists Colombia as the 142nd producer of greenhouse gas emissions per capita in the world for 2009, the most recent year for which data are available. The ranking makes Colombia one of the least polluting nations in Latin America and the world in general in terms of carbon dioxide, and only Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Paraguay produce fewer emissions per person.
With annual per capita emissions of 1.61 metric tons of carbon dioxide, Colombians contribute roughly 95 times less of the greenhouse gas to the Earth’s atmosphere than global leader Gibraltar, a territory of the United Kingdom, and approximately 11 times less than the United States, one of the largest polluters per capita in the Americas and the world’s second largest overall carbon dioxide producer behind China.
As Colombia’s middle class grows rapidly, along with increased business and infrastructure development and cheaper vehicle prices resulting from Free Trade Agreements with the United States, Canada and South Korea, the nation’s carbon emissions are increasing as well. From 2010 to 2011, the country’s total carbon dioxide production grew from 66 million metric tons to 71 million tons. Carbon emissions have nearly doubled since 1980.
Much of Colombia’s climate change impact is indirect, stemming from the nation’s role as a producer of raw materials used in energy production such as crude oil and coal. Typically overshadowed by neighboring OPEC member Venezuela, Colombia ranked as the 23rd largest producer of crude oil in the world in 2012 and the fourth largest in Latin America. Colombia is the planet’s 11th largest producer of coal and the largest in the region. According to Revenue Watch Institute (RWI) Colombia ranked this year with a “satisfactory” score of 74 out of 100, placing it 9th in the global ranking of 58 nations which best manages its natural resources.
Almost all of the nation’s coal and oil production is consumed beyond Colombian borders, however, as most of the country’s electrical grid relies on hydroelectric and geothermal power, with natural gas a distant third place. Indeed, more than half of the nation’s electrical output in 2010 was derived from Colombia’s considerable water resources, according to the Ministry of Mines and Energy. The National Statistical Department (DANE) reports that more than 97 percent of Colombians have regular access to electricity as of 2012.
While Colombia has until recently played only a very minor role in climate change, the nation’s rapidly expanding economy and increasing demand for energy make it a significant front in the fight against global warming. As one of the world’s most biodiverse nations with a number of incredibly fragile ecosystems, the impact of international inaction could be devastating. Fortunately, most Colombians still leave a small environmental footprint compared to the rest of the world, and with a little planning and effort, there will be plenty of the nation’s incredible natural riches left for future generations to enjoy.
