Ecuador, coastline erosion warning

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Anyone who is thinking of purchasing real estate on the coast of Ecuador should considere a report filed in 2010 at the World Conference on Climate Change in Cancun, Mexico.

Raul Medina Santamaria(professor of hydraulic engineering-University of Cantabria) reported to the newspaper El Comercio that the coastline of Ecuador is eroding at a rate of 2 meters every ten years and that sea levels are increasing as well as temperatures. He specifically mentioned in the article Salinas and Atacames and that rates are about 20 cm of beach line per year.

Climatic change will contribute to significant declines in the production of coffee, cocoa, beans, and bananas. He blames much of the change in patterns due to the melting of the glacier on Cotopaxi and the rising sea temperatures which contribue to heavy downpours. He indicated that Latin America must do a better job at lowering gases and that coastal erosion is a problem along the entire coast of Latin America.

Graciela Magrin an expert from Argentina told the newspaper that Ecuador is going to have significant future problems with a drastic reduction in rainfall in the Sierra. She predicts losses of 1.3 million hectacres of crops. Raul Medina sees losses of $20,000 per square meter per year in touris cities along the coast and that does not include the costs with infrastructure.

In the article for El commercio, Medina recommended that Ecuador needs to adapt and that there should be plans for phasing out the infrastructure and population in their present locations on the coast. The article further discussed that experts believe Ecuador is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change and erosion. Read Article