Abstract
Climate Change Impacts on Watersheds in Mesoamerica and the Caribbean
Track: Climate Change
Author(s): Eric Anderson, Africa Flores Cordova
This study models potential impacts of climate change on water quality and availability, sediment and nutrient loads, and flood risk potential, in Mesoamerica and the Caribbean. In follow up to last year’s “Ecosystem Vulnerability to Climate Change in Panama” project, this analysis focuses on demonstrating the impacts of projected precipitation changes, considering historical averages and variation as well as numerous climate change scenarios. The watershed is the logical unit of measure for this study because they form the boundaries for management of water and other resources intrinsically linked to water. This analysis also incorporates erosion and pollutant modeling techniques to investigate potential impacts on runoff, sedimentation, and downstream pollution, all of which take into consideration land cover and land use management schemes. The end product determines the critical watersheds to which advanced resource management and climate change adaptation efforts should be directed, and it identifies potentially impacted populated places.
Eric Anderson
Water Center for the Humid Tropics of Latin America and the Caribbean (CATHALAC)
Apartado postal 0843-03102
Panamá , Panama 00000
Panama
Phone: (507) 317-3222
E-mail: eric.anderson@cathalac.org
Africa Flores Cordova
Water Center for the Humid Tropics of Latin America and the Caribbean (CATHALAC)
Apartado postal: 0843-03102
Panamá , Panamá 00000
Panama
Phone: (507) 317-3223
E-mail: africa.flores@cathalac.org