Costa Rica will not escape the effects of climate change and, if the trend continues, by 2080 many parts of the Ticolandia will look dramatically different: in some cases, flooded by rising sea level and in others, almost desert-like due to high temperatures.
At the request of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the Centro de Tecnología y Artes Visuales (CETAV) – Center for Technology and Visual Arts – foretells some sites recognized by Costa Ricans, for example, Arenal, Caldera, and Limón, might look like in 2080.
According to Kifah Sasa, UNDP Sustainable Development and Resilience Officer, to develop the arts, 2080 was taken as the basis, due to the not encouraging projections of the Instituto Meteorológico Nacional (IMN) – Costa Rica’s national weather service.
What can be done to reverse the situation? “This is a weather emergency. Either we change in the next decade or we will perish,” Sasa emphasized.
Sasa said that the situation is drastic and that is why Costa Ricans must have more climate ambition.
“There are those who think that because it is a small country, or because it only contributes a very small part of the total emissions of the planet, our contribution is tiny. On the contrary, countries like Costa Rica, with renewable energy matrices, have less complex challenges than the others. If we are not able to change our consumption of fossil fuels in the transport sector, or to reduce agricultural emissions by using less agrochemicals and avoiding deforestation, it is difficult to think that others will.”
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