Effects Of Physical Geography On Latin America

The Latin American countries have been subject to many changes ever since the American continent was discovered. These changes have mainly affected the economy, culture and power changes these countries have suffered throughout the years. According to Jon Charles Chasteen on his book “Born in Blood & Fire” During the twentieth century, there were three main events that changed the course of Latin American countries and their economies. These three events were, the emergence of nationalism, the end of World War II, and the Cuban revolution. However, in my point of view, the event that created more impact in Latin America and the future of these countries has been Cuban Revolution. It is not a secret that the Cuban Revolution created a big impact to the country’s future, unfortunately this revolution not only changed Cuba, but also the entire region of Latin America.

Adams and Kostel, the authors, discuss the causes of the disasters and ways to minimize the effects of these type of disasters. The authors use physical data to help readers visualize the..causes..In...text..it..states,.“Total losses exceeded $150 billion.” The authors use monetary data to show the devastating effects of the hurricane.

Economic and development of any area is always and always will be interrupted by disasters big and small. These disasters can have a big impact on the economy by destroying businesses, homes, and damage property. As disaster pose a challenge to up and coming or existing developments or communities there are ways to possibly help damage and lose such as not building in a flood zone and moving to higher elevation. Disasters can have an effect on families to.

Over the course of the past half-millennium, the 33 countries that now comprise Latin America and the Caribbean have gone through drastic change. Since the discovery of the New World in 1492, each country has gone through some level of colonization by a European power and transition to its current state. During this period the regions have seen political, social, religious and economic transformations of various degrees.

The physical geography of Latin America and the Caribbean greatly affect where people live by making some places are more desirable than others. One examples is the Panama Canal, which is runs across the Panama Isthmus in Central America. The Panama Canal is a large man-made canal, that connects the two largest bodies of water in the world. People live very closely to the Panama Canal, meaning it has a high population density there and in the surrounding areas. The population around the canal is 250-1,249 people per square mile. People tend to live near this feature because the canal and water provide so many valuable assets, such as sea animals for marine jobs, boats for repairmen and traders, transportation, tourism, swimming, and many more.

In the Article, “Agriculture in the Dominican Republic: Highly Vulnerable, Mostly uninsured, on Worldbank.org. Many countries are vulnerable to natural disaster, and the country is defenseless against price issues, and remains uninsured against major shocks. “Agricultural Risk Management in the Caribbean”, an article reported by worldbank.org, includes the many issues these agricultural workers have to face. In the past 20 years, these workers have spent 9% of their gross domestic product dealing with the effects of weather hazards (Worldbank.org). As a consequence due to these weather hazards, the agricultural sector has been inactive. Farmers and the government have to accept the costs of weather hazards and price fluctuations (Worldbank.org). These weather hazards and price fluctuations have led to lower income levels, increased poverty, reduced economic growth, and competitiveness. The small farmers are the most affected, according to Worldbank.org. Agricultural activity in the Dominican Republic is centered on two crops, which is sugar cane and rice. These two crops alone make up for 11% of gross domestic product, and make up 15% of employment in the country. Agriculture is very important in the Dominican Republic, so the reduction of agriculture’s vulnerability to natural disasters is key (Worldbank.org). Natural disasters have become a major problem for the country’s finances. About

Natural disasters cause a lot of damage to the economies in Latin America when they happen. The damage can last for months, years or even decades. Natural disasters are hard for everyone, but it is even harder for Latin American countries to recover

The Americas, now known as Latin America, has gone through many changes in its history, from being conquered by Spain and Portugal, to the people fighting for its independence and finally, making a living as newly independent countries. From the years 1850 to the end of the 19th century, each region had influences, specifically those that dealt with the after effects colonial rule had on the land. Nations that made up Latin America began modifying different portions in their government in attempts to benefit the majority of the people. More or so, they accomplished this goal, each with their own challenges. Evidently, changes within the social, political and economic systems were focused on external factors.

In Chilean society it is normal for families to own small businesses and make over $20,000 a year, while the majority of Haitian and Nepalese people are farmers, who live below the poverty line, and barely make enough money to survive during a normal year, let alone a year with a devastating earthquake. Many Chilean families could afford to pay someone to build a good home for them and do sturdy repairs, but poor Nepalese and Haitian families lived in either mud and straw houses or poorly constructed concrete houses, which were easily destroyed in earthquakes. Also, both Haiti and Nepal experienced higher levels of long term homelessness/displacement than Chile after their earthquakes because people in both countries could not afford the rebuilding of their homes. Again, this goes back to Kenny’s claim in his report on seismic inequalities that wealthy societies (ie. Chile) survive earthquakes better because they have money, which often leads to better building codes and safer homes for the society as a whole (Kenny,

Since the economy relies on agriculture so much, when a natural disaster hits, it really damages the economy. All together, natural disasters caused an estimated $1.8 billion in damage and economic loss. Because of this, they rely on trading to receive many things, which sometimes increases the need for exporting goods. On the other hand, between 2002 and 2017, the unemployment rates averaged to 3.07%. Based on the problems going on in the country, people would expect this rate to be much higher. However, more than half the population lives in rural areas and since agriculture is a main factor, many people become farmers, which lowers the unemployment rates. Guatemala is known as a poorer country and this is the result of the unequal distribution of wealth and land. As a result, this is the countries biggest reason for uneven development in the region, and with this, high poverty rates plague the

While for Latin America during the period 1925-1950 the urban growth rate almost doubled the total growth rate and the urbanization rate was 2.0%, more recently, between 1975-2000 the urban growth rate was just almost 50% higher than the total growth rate and the urbanization rate fell to 0.8%. To characterize the urbanization process within Latin America is not an easy task, since there is a great deal of heterogeneity among countries in terms of their population, territory and sociodemographic characteristics.

This relates to the impact of geography in the aspect of cities’ housing, as well as land use. Simply put, there just isn’t enough land the way it is. There are over 200,000 vacant houses, yet there are rising numbers of homeless. It just does not add up. What Lowe Guardians plans on doing is using the space to its fullest potential. They are getting people that are in search of an affordable home, in their pods. These pods are placed in the abandoned buildings and warehouses, to make use of the land. Which, is solving the problem of the lack of living space, as well as restoring the vacant living quarters.

The WHO indicated that up to 24% of total deaths in Peru are caused by communicable diseases. Malaria is one notable risk, as up to 1.2 million Peruvians are at a high risk for malaria transmission. It is reported that 87,669 cases of malaria in Peru during 2005 dropped to 29,257 in 2010. Fortunately, the number of cases have continued to dwindle as more vaccination programs are introduced. On the other hand, Peru has also experienced a dengue epidemic in June 2011. The number of cases significantly increased from 3,695 during 2006 to 27,404 cases in 2011. In recent years, however, active prevention by Peru’s Ministry of Health has minimized the number of cases for dengue fever. However, the World Health Organization still regard Peru as a high-risk country for dengue fever, as many travelers report their cause of fevers were dengue. Other communicable diseases that pose a low level of threat in Peru are yellow fever, rubella, measles. Vaccination programs like “the Accelerated Plan against Yellow Fever” have been extremely helpful in reducing Peruvians’ communicable disease

Natural Disaster Reduction is a serious topic all countries should be discussing. A study in 2015 recorded around 7,000 natural disasters worldwide, which claimed 1.35 million lives. Natural disasters could be earthquakes, flooding, volcanic eruption, landslide, and hurricanes. The policy objective of anticipating and reducing risk is called disaster risk reduction (DRR). Natural disasters can take lives and also take the homes of many people. The loss of property can be very detrimental to some people. Also hurricanes or flooding can destroy food supply and crops. Over 173 countries are affected by natural disasters. Some of the countries most affected by natural disasters are Costa Rica, Japan, Fiji, Philippines, and Haiti. This affects all countries big and small when disaster strikes a country it can affect the functionality of its community. When natural disasters hits a country the aftermath can cause huge devastation and cost a lot of money. Scientists recorded that three-quarters of economic losses is caused by natural disasters. The US spent $100 billion per year in the last decade on the aftermath of natural disasters. The hurricane season in the Caribbean consists of heavy rains, which may cause flash floods and landslides. Cuba is also located on an active earthquake zone which can also be a huge problem. Some of the most recent hurricanes to hit Cuba were Matthew in 2016 and Irma in 2017.

Natural disasters may be defined as natural catastrophes which cause great damage by disrupting the functioning of a society thus rendering the country incapable of coping through using its own resources as there is a need for outsider assistance in order to effectively preserve lives and the environment. Conversely, Natural hazards are natural phenomena that are potential threats to people within a society, structures or economic assets and may cause disaster. Natural disasters are inevitable and ubiquitous worldwide. Within the Caribbean, they are chiefly present in the forms of hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, droughts, and volcanoes. The great damages caused by natural disasters may be divided into three categories: social, economic