Global Issues Insight

Climate & Community Blog – Post #2
Published: October 16, 2025 – World Food Day (“Hand in Hand for Better Foods and a Better Future”)

From the wheat fields of Canada and the U.S. to the coffee slopes of Central America, from Caribbean fishing boats to the Amazon rainforest, the Americas are home to some of the world’s most important food landscapes.

They’re also on the front lines of climate change. And because food systems are both victims and drivers of the climate crisis, what happens here matters for the whole planet. The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reminds us that agrifood systems are a major source of greenhouse gas emissions, even as hundreds of millions of people still face hunger.

Today’s post focuses on the Americas by political regions:

• North America: Canada, Mexico, United States
• Central America: Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama
• Caribbean: 13 UN member states plus territories (like Puerto Rico, Guadeloupe, etc.)
• South America: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, Venezuela

…and how climate change is reshaping food and lives across this entire hemisphere.

1. North America: High Emissions, Fragile Harvests

North America (Canada, Mexico, and the U.S.) holds about 6.4% of the world’s population but roughly a quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions, with some of the highest per‑person CO₂ emissions on Earth.

That pollution is boomeranging back into the region’s own food systems:

• Temperatures have risen across almost all of North America since 1960, with more heatwaves and less snow and ice in many areas.
• In the western U.S. and northern Mexico, less rainfall and higher evaporation have intensified long droughts, including the Colorado River basin’s worst dry spell in over 1,000 years.
• Heat and changing rainfall have already reduced yields of major crops in parts of the region, with more risk expected as warming continues.

All of this hits food in very practical ways: smaller harvests, stressed livestock, more crop failures, and higher prices for people already struggling with housing, healthcare, and inequality.

But North America is also one of the regions best resourced to adapt—if it chooses to:

• Governments and cities are investing in early‑warning systems, climate‑smart farming, and water‑saving technologies.
• Indigenous communities, whose lands and knowledge have sustained ecosystems for thousands of years, are leading efforts in forest protection, fire management, and land stewardship.

The big question: will the region move fast enough to both cut emissions and share resources fairly across borders?

2. Central America: The Dry Corridor and Climate Migration

Central America is thin on the map but huge in climate stories. A strip known as the “Dry Corridor” (parts of Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua) is experiencing more frequent and intense droughts, made worse by El Niño and long‑term warming.

According to recent World Meteorological Organization reports:

• 2023 was the warmest year on record for the region, with heatwaves and drought damaging crops and reducing river flows.
• By late 2023, 76% of Mexico was facing some level of drought, and drought extended across much of Central America, hitting small farmers especially hard.

For many families, farming is the main source of both food and income. When harvests fail:

• People skip meals or switch to cheap, less nutritious foods.
• Farmers fall into debt, lose land, or are forced to migrate.
• Children drop out of school to help with work or because families can’t afford fees.

WMO estimates that millions in Central America and the Caribbean faced acute food crises in 2023, largely because climate disasters hammered crops, fishing, and supply chains.

Climate change doesn’t “cause” migration by itself, but it pushes people over the edge when combined with poverty, violence, and weak institutions.

3. Caribbean: Hurricanes, Rising Seas, and Coastal Food Systems

The Caribbean—13 UN member states plus territories—is one of the world’s most storm‑exposed and sea‑level‑sensitive regions.

Scientists estimate that, under a high‑emissions scenario, median sea‑level rise around the Caribbean could reach around 0.74–0.83 meters by 2100, which would make today’s “rare” floods much more common.

Some key threats:

Saltwater intrusion: Rising seas push saltwater into coastal aquifers and soils, making it harder to grow crops and contaminating wells.

Stronger hurricanes and storm surge: Warmer seas fuel more intense tropical cyclones, turning what used to be “once in a lifetime” events into more frequent disasters.

Chronic coastal flooding: Even without big storms, a few extra centimeters of sea level can turn once‑a‑decade floods into every‑year events in many Caribbean ports and towns.

This all collides with how people eat and make a living:

• Coastal agriculture (bananas, root crops, sugarcane, vegetables) is vulnerable to flooding and storms.
• Small‑scale fishers, who contribute a big share of local protein and income, face changing fish distributions as warmer waters and coral reef damage transform marine ecosystems.

At the same time, many Caribbean economies depend heavily on tourism, which is threatened by damaged reefs, beaches, and infrastructure. Climate change isn’t just an environmental issue here; it’s a full‑on development and justice issue.

4. South America: Melting Glaciers and a Tipping Forest

South America holds two climate‑critical systems: the Andean glaciers and the Amazon rainforest.

Melting water towers

Glaciers in the Andes supply water for cities, agriculture, and hydropower in countries like Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, and Argentina. But they’re shrinking fast:

• Data from around 5,500 glaciers across the Andes show about 25% loss of ice coverage since the late 19th century, with tropical glaciers melting about ten times faster than the global average.
• Some glaciers in Venezuela, Colombia, and Argentina have already been declared “extinct.”

When glaciers disappear, rivers become more variable: too much water in some seasons, not enough in others. That spells trouble for irrigated crops, drinking water, and hydropower, especially under further warming.

Amazon rainforest at a crossroads

The Amazon rainforest, shared by countries like Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Venezuela, absorbs huge amounts of CO₂ and creates its own rainfall system. But new research shows it could be approaching a tipping point:

• Studies published in 2024 suggest that up to 47% of the Amazon could reach a tipping point by 2050, where parts of the forest shift permanently toward drier, savanna‑like ecosystems if deforestation and warming continue.

That would:

• Release massive amounts of carbon into the atmosphere
• Disrupt rainfall patterns across all of South America, hurting crops from soy and maize to coffee and fruits
• Threaten biodiversity and Indigenous communities who have protected the forest for generations

The Amazon is sometimes called the “lungs” and “water pump” of South America. Letting it collapse would be like turning off the continent’s natural air conditioner and sprinkler system at the same time.

5. Climate, Inequality, and Food: A Shared Pattern

Across the Americas, the pattern repeats:

• The richest, highest‑emitting countries (like the U.S. and Canada) contribute heavily to climate change.
• Lower‑emitting, more vulnerable countries in Central America, the Caribbean, and parts of South America are hit hardest by droughts, floods, hurricanes, and crop losses.

Globally, FAO estimates about 673 million people are living with hunger, while nearly a third of all food is lost or wasted. Small‑scale farmers still grow around a third of the world’s food, and small‑scale fishers provide about 40% of the global catch, yet they are among those most exposed to climate shocks.

On this World Food Day, FAO’s 2025 message—“Hand in Hand for Better Foods and a Better Future”—is a reminder that:

• Food systems are not just supply chains; they’re people, cultures, and ecosystems.
• Climate change is already reshaping who can grow food, who goes hungry, and who has the power to adapt.

6. How People in the Americas Are Fighting Back

It’s not all doom. There are real signs of hope and agency across the hemisphere:

• In Latin America and the Caribbean, renewables already make up nearly 69% of the region’s energy mix, with solar and wind capacity jumping 30% between 2023 and 2024.
• Early‑warning systems for storms, floods, and heatwaves are saving lives, even as damages remain high.
• Indigenous and local communities are leading movements to protect forests, diversify crops, and defend land rights.
• Cities from Vancouver to Mexico City to São Paulo are experimenting with urban gardens, food‑waste reduction, and climate‑smart transport.

These efforts show that change is possible—but they need support, funding, and political will, especially from high‑emitting countries.

7. What You Can Do From Where You Are

Even if you’re far from the Amazon or the Caribbean, you’re still connected to the Americas every time you eat:

a) Rethink what’s on your plate

• Add more plant‑based meals each week.
• Choose foods that are in season and grown closer to home when you can.
• Support fair‑trade or shade‑grown coffee, cocoa, and bananas that protect forests and farmers.

b) Cut food waste

FAO says that nearly one‑third of food produced globally is lost or wasted.

• Plan meals, use leftovers, and store food properly.
• Start a compost bin if possible, or support community composting.

c) Stand with front‑line communities

• Follow and amplify voices from Central America, Caribbean islands, and South American Indigenous groups.
• Donate (if you can) to organizations working on climate‑resilient agriculture, disaster recovery, and Indigenous land rights.
• If you vote, support policies that cut emissions, expand climate finance, and protect forests and oceans.

d) Bring the Americas into your campus or local activism

• Organize a World Food Day event focused on climate and food justice in the Americas—film screening, panel, art exhibit, or fundraiser.
• Partner with student clubs (environmental, global studies, Latinx/Caribbean, social justice) to highlight one specific case, like the Dry Corridor, the Amazon, or Caribbean small‑scale fishers

8. Questions to Reflect On

I’ll end this post with a few questions for reflection (or class discussion):

1. Who in the Americas benefits most from the current food system—and who is most at risk as the climate changes?
2. How should responsibility for climate adaptation and loss & damage be shared between high‑emitting countries in North America and more vulnerable countries in Central America, the Caribbean, and South America?
3. What is one concrete action you can take this month (on food choices, waste, or advocacy) that connects you to climate justice in the Americas?

The Americas are often seen as separate regions—North vs. South, “developed” vs. “developing.” But the climate doesn’t care about borders. From the prairies of Canada to the reefs of the Caribbean and the rivers of the Amazon, we’re all part of the same story—and we still have time to change how it ends.