A window into what we are reading at the Wilson Center’s Environmental Change and Security Program

Panama’s First Climate-Related Relocation

The Guna Indigenous people of Gardi Sugdub—an island in Panama’s San Blas Archipelago—are moving to new mainland homes in Carti Port’s Isber Yala neighborhood. This move is part of a larger relocation effort supported by the country’s government since 2010 to address the impacts of climate change on its indigenous peoples.

Panama’s relocation of the Guna exemplifies the benefits of community-led, government-supported climate adaptation but also highlights the challenges of putting these ideas into practice. Yet while the government’s relocation plan, which includes cultural gathering spaces in the traditional Guna style, has been acclaimed, the opening of Isber Yala also has created concerns about the new site’s ability to meet basic needs such as water access, sanitation, trash disposal, and education.

Globally, around 400 communities are undergoing (or have already completed) a planned relocation as a result of natural disasters. As climate change intensifies, it is critical that countries with vulnerable coastlines prepare for the possibility of more such movement of populations. As this case in Panama shows, a successful transition requires including community voices both in planning and providing for a community’s basic needs.

READ | Investigating Climate Migration: Global Realities and Resilience

Nigeria Grapples with Illegal Lithium Mining

With the world’s traditional sources of lithium unable to meet growing demand, Nigeria is positioning itself as a potential new source of the mineral. Yet challenges are already mounting as the country has experienced a wave of illegal mining activity by unlicensed miners. This activity has sparked a series of arrests by the government, but efforts to regulate mining operations and reduce illegal activities will require more than increased law enforcement activities.

Corruption is common among the officials who regulate Nigeria’s resources, and illegal mines have sprouted up across the country. According to AP News, some observers believe that the proceeds from this illicit trade fund militia groups in the northern regions of the country. A recent raid in Kishi, Oyo State, led to the arrest of 32 individuals (including 2 Chinese nationals), raising further questions about who is involved in the rise of illegal mining in Nigeria.

AP News reports that the government has established a 2,200-strong “corps of mining marshals” to curb illegal mining, but this program has incurred significant financial losses. Efforts are also being made to support legal mining cooperatives among local communities. Yet the worsening problem has led President Bola Tinubu to acknowledge the nation’s difficult situation and make an appeal to the international community to help stop illegal activity in the lithium trade.

READ | Examining China’s Impact on Mining in Africa: Critiques and Credible Responses

Cleaning Up Smog is Driving Ocean Warming

It seems counterintuitive to suggest that cleaning up smog could worsen global warming. But recent research suggests that just such a thing is happening. The reduction of aerosol emissions, and particularly China’s imposition of stringent pollution controls, has led to increased atmospheric heating. This decrease has disrupted atmospheric circulation and intensified ocean warming, creating conditions for extreme heat waves like “The Blob.”  

“The Blob” is a periodic marine heatwave in the northeast Pacific that can cause significant ecological disruptions, such as the decimation of fish stocks and the displacement of marine wildlife. This phenomenon first appeared in 2013, but its cause remained unknown. Xiaotong Zheng, a meteorologist at Ocean University in China, and others now have linked the phenomenon to reductions in Chinese air pollution. They found that the absence of the aerosols that cause smog in the atmosphere, which previously shielded portions of the Earth from the sun’s rays, has accelerated regional ocean warming.

Thus, scientists warn that efforts to reduce aerosol emissions, while beneficial for public health, could inadvertently enhance global warming. To try and square this gnarly circle, some scientists have suggested that eliminating methane emissions may offer a potential mitigation strategy to counterbalance the warming effect of reduced aerosols.

READ | Who Are the Most Vulnerable to Ocean Acidification and Warming?