Vulnerability and Adaptation to Drought in Mexico
Year: 1999
Type: article
Abstract: The country of Mexico has a long and varied experience with drought, whether described by early historical chronicles or contemporary climatic data and disaster declarations.Much of Mexico is semi-arid and interannual rainfall is highly variable.The experience of drought has resulted in a wide range of adaptations to climate variability, yet today many Mexicans are still extremely vulnerable to lower than average rainfall.This article provides an overview of the nature, causes and consequences of drought in Mexico, focusing on how vulnerability and adaptations vary over time and space.Some preliminary results of a case study of the recent drought in northern Mexico illustrate the state of vulnerability and the limits of adaptation in contemporary Mexico.THE CLIMATIC ORIGINS OF DROUGHT IN MEXICO Mexican climate spans from the hot, dry conditions of the northwestern Sonoran desert where annual average rainfall is less than 100 mim, to the wet, tropical climates that characterize the forest regions of southern Mexico, especially Chiapas and the Gulf coasts, where average annual rainfall can reach 2000 mm.' (Figure 1).These climates originate in latitudinal belts of atmospheric circulation which shift seasonally and range from the westerlies, which bring precipitation to northern Mexico in winter, through the sub-tropical highs associated with stable, dry conditions, to the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) and trade winds which deliver summer rainfall to the central and southern regions of the country.Other key influences on precipitation are fall hurricanes on both Caribbean and Pacific coasts, the summer monsoons in the north, and summer high pressure which disrupts the flow of moist air and creates a period of dry conditions known as the canicula or midsummer drought.The mountainous and varied topography of Mexico dominates many other climatic influences,
Source: Natural resources journal
Author: Diana Liverman
Language: English
Subfield: Global and Planetary Change
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Climate action
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W592171121