Week 13: Coastal Erosion in Panama

 Week 13: Coastal Erosion


In Panama, there are some parts of the country where coastal erosion occurs. According to the U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit, coastal erosion is when "local sea level rise, strong wave action, and coastal flooding wear down or carry away rocks, soil, and/or sands along the coast. Coastal erosion occurs when there are strong currents and high waves which erodes the coast by breaking off sediment particles or moving rocks. Since Panama gets a good amount of extreme weather events including storms and flooding, this causes the country to have coastal erosions. Furthermore, climate change and human activities plays a role in the creation of coastal erosion as well.

Panama: Indigenous Community Facing Lack of Space and Rising Seas Plans Relocation

Gardi Sugdub, also known as Crab Island, is a tiny island off Panama's coast and has been a home to Guna Indigenous people for over 100 years. They have faced many problems and coastal erosion is one of them with floods and storms causing a rise in sea levels. Not only are floods and storms causing a rise in sea level, but it is also having a negative impact on the way of living in Gardi Sugdub as it's affecting housing, health, water, and education. With barely any space on the island and the sea levels rising, it's becoming harder to live on Gardi Sugdub to the point where people that reside on the island are questioning themselves whether they need to move.

The mitigation process for coastal erosion in Gardi Sugdub and even Panama isn't an easy solution. However, the Panamanian government came up with a solution of building 300 new homes, with the help of the Panamanian Ministry of Housing, to a safer site on the mainland site that their community owns. They would also have to obtain resources for the people and an education system for the children.

References:

Bower, Erica. “‘The Sea Is Eating the Land Below Our Homes.’” Human Rights Watch, 31 July 2023, www.hrw.org/report/2023/07/31/sea-eating-land-below-our-homes/indigenous-community-facing-lack-space-and-rising. 

Morton, Robert A. “An Overview of Coastal Land Loss: With Emphasis on the Southeastern United States.” USGS, pubs.usgs.gov/of/2003/of03-337/waves.html#:~:text=Breaking%20waves%20erode%20the%20coast,and%20gradually%20wear%20them%20down. Accessed 17 Nov. 2023. 

“Coastal Erosion.” U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit, toolkit.climate.gov/topics/coastal-flood-risk/coastal-erosion. Accessed 17 Nov. 2023. 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Week 10: Extreme Weather Events in Panama

Image
Week 10: Extreme Weather Events   In Panama, there are many extreme weather events that occur in the country such as intense and protracted rainfalls, windstorms, floods, droughts, wildfires, earthquakes, landslides, tropical cyclones, and tsunamis. The most common extreme weather event that occurs in Panama would be rainfalls which causes floods and landslides. In Panama, this is called the hurricane/rainy season which happens from June to November. Panama isn't usually directly impacted by hurricanes, but these hurricanes cause heavy rainfall and other hazards to inhabit the country. The people and country of Panama deal with many extreme weather events as Panama ranks 14th among countries most exposed to multiple hazards based on land area. One of the extreme weather events Panama goes through are floods because of the common occurrence of heavy rainfall. On November 21, 2021, there was a deadly flash flood warning in Panama which took the lives of two people with one gone missi
Read more

Week 4: Volcanic History in Panama

Image
Week 4: Volcanoes In Panama, there are a total of four volcanoes which isn't as many compared to other countries. Two of these volcanoes are Holocene while the other two are considered as Pleistocene volcanoes. Going more into detail, Holocene volcanoes are volcanoes that were active in the past 11,700 years while Pleistocene volcanoes are volcanoes that were active from 11,700 to 2.5 million years ago. The Tisingal and La Yeguada volcanoes are the two Pleistocene volcanoes that are located in Panama which aren't active. However, the Baru and El Valle volcanoes are the two Holocene volcanoes that are located in Panama which are active. The El Valle volcano is considered to be a still active volcano, but there hasn't been any recorded evidence of when it last erupted. However, the Baru volcano is the youngest major volcano located in Panama and the most recently active which it last erupted around 500 years ago in 1550. In 770 AD, the Baru volcano largely erupted which destr
Read more