Social and environmental dimensions of drought in Mexico: An integrative review

Carlos Dobler-Morales,G. Bocco

Published 2021 in International journal of disaster risk reduction

ABSTRACT

Abstract Drought is one of the most disruptive climatic extremes in Mexico. The country is particularly exposed to this phenomenon given its location in the tropics and subtropics. Furthermore, much of the population is highly vulnerable to drought effects. Enhancing drought preparedness in Mexico demands a holistic understanding of this climatic extreme. Here we review the causes, impacts, responses to, and future trends of drought in the country. Our work synthesizes both physical and social perspectives, focusing primarily on climatological and geographical research. Three overarching messages emerge from the existing knowledge: (1) drought has been a recurrent event in Mexico and is predicted to become more severe in coming decades as a consequence of global warming; (2) pervasive socioeconomic inequality in the country has produced a stark differentiation in drought impacts, with the smallholder sector being one of the most affected; and (3) the institutional framework focused on mitigating drought impacts remains highly fragmented and overall prioritizes alleviating rather than preventing disasters. Based on the review, we propose a set of general guidelines to steer public policy towards a more integrated management of drought risk, in which enhancing local adaptive capacities is considered essential.

PUBLICATION RECORD

  • Publication year

    2021

  • Venue

    International journal of disaster risk reduction

  • Publication date

    2021-03-01

  • Fields of study

    Sociology, Geography, Environmental Science

  • Identifiers
  • External record

    Open on Semantic Scholar

  • Source metadata

    Semantic Scholar

CITATION MAP

EXTRACTION MAP

CLAIMS

  • No claims are published for this paper.

CONCEPTS

  • No concepts are published for this paper.

REFERENCES

Showing 1-100 of 173 references · Page 1 of 2

CITED BY

Showing 1-27 of 27 citing papers · Page 1 of 1