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UK Sets Target to Cut Greenhouse Gas Emissions by 87% by 2040
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia /Environment & Climate

UK Sets Target to Cut Greenhouse Gas Emissions by 87% by 2040

From Asharq Al-Awsat · () English

Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • Indigenous Guatemalan villagers face the imminent threat of hunger due to an expanding drought and the approaching El Nino phenomenon.
  • Farmers in Cunen fear that the lack of rain will ruin subsistence crops, with wells now running dry.
  • The "dry corridor" in Guatemala has expanded significantly due to climate change, exacerbating vulnerability to extreme weather events.

In the indigenous Guatemalan village of Xetzac, the specter of El Nino looms, bringing with it the stark fear of death by hunger. Weeks of drought have parched the land, and the rains have yet to arrive, leaving local farmers desperate for the subsistence crops they rely on to survive.

If there isn't rain, (the crops) won't come...If there isn't anything we're going to die of hunger.

— Cecilia Pasa SaratA 38-year-old woman in Xetzac village describes the dire consequences of the ongoing drought.

Cecilia Pasa Sarat, a 38-year-old resident of Cunen, a hard-to-reach mountainous region in the Quiche department, expressed the village's plight: "If there isn't rain, (the crops) won't come...If there isn't anything we're going to die of hunger." The majority of Cunen's approximately 47,000 residents are poor and depend on water from wells that are now drying up. This region lies within the Dry Corridor, an arid stretch across Central America vulnerable to extreme climatic events, which has worsened in Guatemala.

Elvira Pasa, a 27-year-old community leader and mother, described the desiccated landscape where creeks that normally irrigate fields of corn, potatoes, broccoli, and beans are evaporating. "We farm, we don't sell it, we just eat it," she said. "Whatever we plant is what we eat. What will happen if it doesn't rain?" echoed 43-year-old Lucia Rojop, her fears amplified by the potential for a powerful El Nino weather cycle.

We farm, we don't sell it, we just eat it. Whatever we plant is what we eat. What will happen if it doesn't rain?

— Elvira PasaA 27-year-old community leader and mother expresses the village's reliance on subsistence farming and fear of crop failure.

Experts warn that around 2.5 million Guatemalans face potential food insecurity. While the Guatemalan government has prepared 1.1 million rations, El Nino is not the sole cause of the worsening situation. Climate change-fueled drought has caused the "dry corridor" in Guatemala to expand from 40 to 160 municipalities since 2004, affecting nearly half the country. According to Alex Guerra of the Private Institute for Investigation on Climate Change (ICC), El Nino's impact has been reduced by half, suggesting other factors are at play in the escalating crisis.

What will happen if it doesn't rain?

— Lucia RojopA 43-year-old resident voices her fears about the lack of rain and its impact on food security.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Asharq Al-Awsat. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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