Angelica's Blog - Chile's Geology

  Coastal Hazards are a problem in Chile because of its long coastline that stretches through most of South America. This makes Chile very vulnerable to coastal hazards such as high sea levels, coastal floods, and erosion. Coastal Erosions happen when waves crash over the shore, where they can cause displacement of land and sediment on the coastline.  According to some research at the Pontificia Universidad de Chile, 86% of beaches between Arica and Puerto Montt are retreating, with erosion rates increasing simultaneously.  Coastal erosion is important to help protect beaches, infrastructure, and is very expensive to repair any damages or irreparable damage. As time goes by, more and more beaches will start to shrink.  An example of this happening in Chile is in Santo Domingo and Los Molles, where they are experiencing a rapid beach retreat due the sea erosion. It is recorded that the beach in Santo Domingo is receding at a rate of 5.7 meters per year.  At Los M...

Chile is highly likely to experience extreme weather conditions, such as thunderstorms and heat waves. Since it has the Atacama Desert, which is the driest in the world, Chile has had ongoing droughts throughout the years starting in 2010. Chile has experienced a drought for over a decade that the World Resource Institute (WRI) even calls a "mega-drought".  Wildfires have also worsened due to climate change and have affected other natural disasters. As a result of these extreme weather conditions, there has been a scarcity of water.  Droughts have impacted Chile's agriculture and how they access water due to the limited amount and warmer conditions.  Extreme weather conditions such as droughts, heatwaves, and even floods are worse for rural areas due to them being further away from support from the city of Santiago. It is expected that the Atacama Desert will continue to become drier and rural areas have less water availability.  Some mitigation methods that the Chil...