Santiago de Chile, 07.03. (Prensa Latina) At least a dozen coastal areas in Chile are now facing flooding and other damage from climate change, according to a study conducted by four universities in the country.
The research was based on and updated previous work by the Ministry of the Environment carried out in 2019 as part of the COP 25 in Madrid, Spain.
At least 900,000 people live at low elevations along the extensive Chilean coasts from Arica to Cape Horn, of whom 46,000 will be inundated by sea level rise by mid-century.
The new study was carried out in collaboration with specialists from the Federico Santa María University of Technology; the University of Valparaiso; and the Pontifical Catholic Universities of Chile and Valparaíso.
According to the results published on the El Mercurio website, in a pessimistic climate scenario, sea incursions could affect large inhabited areas of the country.
Rapa Nui, Juan Fernández and Viña del Mar are particularly at risk and, with lower incidence, Antofagasta, Valparaíso, Talcahuano, Valdivia, Coronel, Coquimbo Bay and Puerto Saavedra, among others.
Patricio Wincler, co-author of the document, assured that this will allow knowing the behavior of the sea, knowing the affected area and making better decisions about land use.
In the same spirit, Magdalena Vicuña, also a participant in the research, said that with these data it is possible to decide on a possible construction in a vulnerable area and to avoid possible future risks both for people and infrastructure.
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