Vulnerability and Risk Factors due to Tropical Cyclones in Coastal Cities of Baja California Sur, Mexico

Elvia Aida Marín-Monroy,Antonina Ivanova-Boncheva,Eleonora Romero-Vadillo,Víctor Hernández-Trejo

doi:10.3390/cli8120144

Elvia Aida Marín-Monroy, Antonina Ivanova-Boncheva + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/cli8120144

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Journal: Climate	Publication Date: Dec 10, 2020
Citations: 7	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Universidad Autónoma de Baja California Sur

Abstract

Coastal cities have seen an unprecedented growth with regional settlements due to development activities; that is why measures are needed to mitigate risk of adverse events such as tropical cyclones. Baja California Sur, a state known as a relevant ecological and tourist region, includes destinations such as Cabo San Lucas and La Paz, impacted yearly by tropical cyclones, so it is important to design contingency plans and provide available information to the residents. Los Cabos municipality has the highest population growth rate and its inhabitants are more susceptible to adverse events; despite this, there were no indicators of social and ecological vulnerability to risk effects of tropical cyclones. The objective of this research is to calculate the socio-environmental vulnerability of households through an index to identify risk factors. We have obtained a classification according to levels of vulnerability, and the results have shown that 74% of the households are high on the vulnerability scale, 21% of households are moderately vulnerable and only the remaining 5% of households are less vulnerable. In conclusion, the devastating effects of hydrometeorological events were mainly due to a lack of knowledge regarding such events among inhabitants.

Highlights

Coastal populations have been exposed to specific hazards such as coastal flooding and tropical storms due to a reduction in resilience, as well as environmental change and human activities; resilient communities are equipped to reduce impacts which affect most vulnerable populations [1,2].Studies that explore the social aspects of vulnerability to climate change with an examination of the underlying socioeconomic and institutional factors are needed, especially in coastal regions where a higher exposure index to the effects of climate change exists [3]
In a study that calculated an index of vulnerability by country, Mexico was ranked in position number 95, obtaining values that showed a medium risk in exposure, vulnerability, susceptibility, and lack of cooperation [5]; at a subnational or regional scale, the Pacific coast has been shocked by several hydrometeorological events, mainly tropical cyclones (TCs)
This study used the technique of Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to assess vulnerability according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) framework; we reviewed several indexes, focusing on assessing the perception of socio-environmental vulnerability due to hurricane impacts [17,18,19]

Summary

Introduction

Studies that explore the social aspects of vulnerability to climate change with an examination of the underlying socioeconomic and institutional factors are needed, especially in coastal regions where a higher exposure index to the effects of climate change exists [3]. Other factors that have been studied include social relations, political power, gender, age, and income. This is because vulnerability to climate change and variability is linked to social aspects and economic development [4]. In a study that calculated an index of vulnerability by country, Mexico was ranked in position number 95, obtaining values that showed a medium risk in exposure, vulnerability, susceptibility, and lack of cooperation [5]; at a subnational or regional scale, the Pacific coast has been shocked by several hydrometeorological events, mainly tropical cyclones (TCs).

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