Vergara, Walter2012-08-132012-08-132006-11https://hdl.handle.net/10986/10304Climate change is a very serious environmental challenge that affects prospects for sustainable development. Since the Industrial Revolution, the mean surface temperature of Earth has increased an average of one degree Celsius per century mainly due to the accumulation of greenhouse gases (CHGs) in the atmosphere. Furthermore, most of this change has occurred in the past 30 to 40 years, and the rate of increase is accelerating. A change of this magnitude is unprecedented and will result in significant impacts both at a global scale, and for Latin America and the Caribbean in particular. This paper includes the following headings: impacts are unavoidable; international response; and opportunities to address climate change and local development.CC BY 3.0 IGOADAPTATION ACTIVITIESADAPTATION FUNDADAPTATION TO CLIMATE CHANGEAFFORESTATIONAIR POLLUTIONAIR QUALITYAIR QUALITY IMPROVEMENTSAIR QUALITY STANDARDSANTHROPOGENIC EMISSIONSATMOSPHEREAVAILABILITYBIOMASSBIOMASS ENERGYBIOMASS ENERGY SYSTEMSBIOMASS FUELSCARBONCARBON EMISSIONCARBON EMISSION REDUCTIONSCARBON FINANCECARBON FINANCINGCARBON FUNDCARBON MARKETCARBON REDUCTIONCARBON REVENUESCARBON SEQUESTRATIONCARBON SINKSCARBON TRADECARBON TRADINGCARBONIZATIONCATTLE RAISINGCENTRAL AMERICACH4CHANGES IN LAND USECLEAN DEVELOPMENTCLEAN DEVELOPMENT MECHANISMCLIMATECLIMATE CHANGECLIMATE CHANGE CONVENTIONCLIMATE SYSTEMCO2CO2 EMISSIONSCOMBATING CLIMATE CHANGECONFERENCE OF THE PARTIESCONSERVATIONCORAL REEFSCOST OF GASDOMESTIC EMISSIONSECOLOGICAL SYSTEMSECOSYSTEMECOSYSTEMSEMISSION REDUCTIONSEMISSION TRADINGEMISSIONSEMISSIONS REDUCTIONSENERGY ALTERNATIVESENERGY EFFICIENCYENERGY EFFICIENCY MEASURESENERGY INTENSIVEENERGY PRODUCTIONENERGY SAVINGSENERGY SOURCESENERGY SYSTEMSENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGESENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTSFLOODINGFOREST COVERFORESTRYFORESTSFOSSILFOSSIL FUEL PLANTSFOSSIL FUELSFRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON CLIMATE CHANGEFUELGENERATIONGENERATION CAPACITYGENERATION OF ELECTRICITYGHGSGLOBAL ENVIRONMENTGLOBAL ENVIRONMENT FACILITYGLOBAL WARMINGGREENHOUSEGREENHOUSE GASESHEATHUMAN HEALTHHYDROPOWERIMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGEKYOTO PROTOCOLLAND USE MANAGEMENTLANDFILLLANDFILL GASLANDFILL OPERATIONSMALARIAMETHANEMITIGATION ACTIONSN2ONEGOTIATIONSNITROGENNITROGEN OXIDESNOXPARTICULATEPARTICULATE MATTERPARTICULATESPOLLUTANTSPOWERPOWER GENERATIONPOWER MIXPOWER SECTORPOWER SYSTEMPOWER SYSTEMSPROCESS HEATPROGRAMSRAINFALLRENEWABLE ENERGYRENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCESRISING SEA LEVELSSEA LEVELSSEA ­LEVEL RISESEWAGE TREATMENTSMOGSOLID WASTESOLID WASTE MANAGEMENTSURFACE TEMPERATURETRADITIONAL FOSSIL FUELTRANSPORT SECTORTROPOSPHERIC OZONEUNCONTROLLED EMISSIONURBAN CENTERSURBAN ENVIRONMENTVEGETATIONVEHICLESVOLATILE HYDROCARBONSWASTEWATER TREATMENTWINDWIND ENERGYWIND ENERGY GENERATIONWIND GENERATIONWIND POWERWIND SYSTEMSZERO EMISSIONSWorld Bank10.1596/10304