State of the climate in Latin America and the Caribbean 2021

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) State of the Climate in Latin America and the Caribbean 2021 highlight the far-reaching repercussions for ecosystems, food and water security, human health and poverty. The report shows that hydrometeorological hazards, including droughts, heatwaves, cold waves, tropical cyclones and floods, have unfortunately led to the loss of hundreds of lives, severe damages to crop production and infrastructure and human displacement. Increasing sea-level rise and ocean warming are expected to continue to affect coastal livelihoods, tourism, health, food, energy, and water security, particularly in small islands and Central American countries. For many Andean cities, melting glaciers represent the loss of a significant source of freshwater currently used for domestic use, irrigation, and hydroelectric power.

Key findings include:

• Temperature: The warming trend continued in 2021 in Latin America and the Caribbean. The average rate temperature increase was around 0.2°C/decade between 1991 and 2021, compared to 0.1°C/decade between 1961 and 1990.
• Sea levels in the region continued to rise at a faster rate than globally, notably along the Atlantic coast of South America south of the equator (3.52 ± 0.0 mm per year, from 1993 to 2021), and the subtropical North Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico (3.48 ± 0.1 mm per year, from 1993 to 1991).
• The “Central Chile Mega Drought” continued in 2021, at 13 years to date, this constitutes the longest drought in this region in at least one thousand years, exacerbating a drying trend and putting Chile at the forefront of the region’s water crisis.
• The 2021 Atlantic Hurricane season had the third highest number of named storms on record, 21, including seven hurricanes, and was the sixth consecutive above-normal Atlantic hurricane season.
• Extreme rainfall in 2021, with record values in many places, led to floods and landslides. There were substantial losses, including hundreds of fatalities, tens of thousands of homes destroyed or damaged and hundreds of thousands of people displaced.