So far in 2024, multiple extreme weather events have already affected many different parts of the Western Hemisphere, ranging from atmospheric rivers leading to severe flooding in California, surging wildfires in Colombia, Venezuela, and Chile, and deepening drought affecting agriculture and food security across parts of Central and South America. At the same time, the proliferation of Aedes aegypti mosquito populations has led to declarations of health emergencies in Brazil due to the rapid and significant spread of dengue. While all these events bear a relationship to climate change, they are being accelerated
this year by the intersection of climate factors with the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), a periodic climate pattern related to higher-than-normal sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean, which leads to drastic changes in rainfall and drought.
With El Niño conditions in effect through 2024, risks of large-scale disruptions to health and livelihoods have increased for communities throughout the region. Please join us to discuss the emerging relationships between extreme weather, El Niño, and the climate crisis in Latin America.
● Chris Funk – Director of the Climate Hazards Center at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
● Leila Carvalho – Professor of Geography, University of California, Santa Barbara
● Mallory Harris – PhD Candidate, Mordecai Lab, Department of Biology, Stanford University
Moderator: Andrew Schroeder, VP of Research and Analysis, Direct Relief, and Co-Director, CrisisReady
