Coastal Degradation in Latin America: The Climate Change Alibi

Despite the often alarmist reports in the mass media, scientific data show that climate change on our planet is nothing new. Hurricanes are no more frequent than they ever were; islands are not disappearing; and sea level has been rising steadily for thousands of years. However, over the past several decades, the world’s coasts have undergone rapid and sustained deterioration, driven by dense settlement along the shore, the discharge of effluents into ocean waters, poor agricultural practices, and other human‑driven pressures.

In Coastal Degradation in Latin America: The Climate Change Alibi, Aramis Latchinian and Roberto Font draw on their experiences in coastal environmental management. Using six case studies from across Latin America, the book shows how apocalyptic climate narratives often lack a solid scientific basis, and how many of the planet’s coastal problems could be tackled by focusing on their concrete local causes. When blame is shifted to global factors, the real processes behind coastal crises are overlooked, delaying environmental management measures that could substantially reduce or even prevent the damage.