scholarly journals The Experience on Earthquake Risk in Central America

1977 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 306-316
Keyword(s):  
South America ◽  
Central America ◽  
Seismic Activity ◽  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
Central American ◽  
Earthquake Risk ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
North And South America ◽  
North And South

Presented by the Central American Actuarial Association (Asociacion Acturial Centroamericana) to the 13th ASTIN Colloquium.The Asociaciôn Actuarial Centroamericana (AAC) is a grouping of Actuaries from the Central American Republics of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama. The AAC is a contributing ASTIN member of the International Actuarial Association.Earthquakes have been a constant scourge of mankind. Central America has not escaped this phenomenon, indeed the territory has been most affected by them precisely because of its condition as an isthmus that serves as a fragile union between the continental land masses of North and South America, and in consequence being subject to disturbances by the displacement of the continental plates. Our lands abound with beautiful volcanoes, which have also contributed to local seismic activity. Whatever their origin, the earthquakes that have struck our country have left their share of destruction of lives and property.In Annex 1 a table is presented, showing a history of seismic activity and volcanic eruptions in the countries on the Caribbean Platform, in which we can appreciate in detail the catastrophes that occurred from the XVI Century until 1976.

1. The Atlantic slave trade

2014 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Heather Andrea Williams
Keyword(s):  
South America ◽  
Slave Trade ◽  
Middle Passage ◽  
Slave Labor ◽  
Christopher Columbus ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Atlantic Slave Trade ◽  
North And South America ◽  
North And South

Slavery had long existed in Europe and Africa, but the history of the Atlantic slave trade begins in the 1440s with Portuguese exploration of West Africa. ‘The Atlantic slave trade’ charts the increased demand for slave labor in Portugal and the Christian justification of African enslavement. In the 1490s, the journeys of Christopher Columbus to the Caribbean and North and South America opened up mineral-rich and fertile lands on which European countries planted their flags and the Christian cross. More than 12 million Africans boarded the ships, but nearly 2 million died during the Middle Passage. Of those who survived, only about 5 percent went to North America, with most going to South America and the Caribbean.

Transatlantic Radicalism

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
South America ◽  
Atlantic Ocean ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Individual Case ◽  
History Of ◽  
Late Nineteenth ◽  
Organizational Ties ◽  
North And South America ◽  
North And South ◽  
Political Radicalism

The Atlantic Ocean not only connected North and South America with Europe through trade but also provided the means for an exchange of knowledge and ideas, including political radicalism. Socialists and anarchists would use this “radical ocean” to escape state prosecution in their home countries and establish radical milieus abroad. However, this was often a rather unorganized development and therefore the connections that existed were quite diverse. The movement of individuals led to the establishment of organizational ties and the import and exchange of political publications between Europe and the Americas. The main aim of this book is to show how the transatlantic networks of political radicalism evolved with regard to socialist and anarchist milieus and in particular to look at the actors within the relevant processes—topics that have so far been neglected in the major histories of transnational political radicalism of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Individual case studies are examined within a wider context to show how networks were actually created, how they functioned and their impact on the broader history of the radical Atlantic.

scholarly journals Recent and Rapid Radiation of the Highly Endangered Harlequin Frogs (Atelopus) into Central America Inferred from Mitochondrial DNA Sequences

Diversity ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 360
Author(s):  
Juan Ramírez ◽  
César Jaramillo ◽  
Erik Lindquist ◽  
Andrew Crawford ◽  
Roberto Ibáñez
Keyword(s):  
Mitochondrial Dna ◽  
South America ◽  
Central America ◽  
Dna Sequences ◽  
Central American ◽  
Tree Model ◽  
South American Species ◽  
Biogeographic History ◽  
Museum Samples ◽  
History Of

Populations of amphibians are experiencing severe declines worldwide. One group with the most catastrophic declines is the Neotropical genus Atelopus (Anura: Bufonidae). Many species of Atelopus have not been seen for decades and all eight Central American species are considered “Critically Endangered”, three of them very likely extinct. Nonetheless, the taxonomy, phylogeny, and biogeographic history of Central American Atelopus are still poorly known. In this study, the phylogenetic relationships among seven of the eight described species in Central America were inferred based on mitochondrial DNA sequences from 103 individuals, including decades-old museum samples and two likely extinct species, plus ten South American species. Among Central American samples, we discovered two candidate species that should be incorporated into conservation programs. Phylogenetic inference revealed a ladderized topology, placing species geographically furthest from South America more nested in the tree. Model-based ancestral area estimation supported either one or two colonization events from South America. Relaxed-clock analysis of divergence times indicated that Atelopus colonized Central America prior to 4 million years ago (Ma), supporting a slightly older than traditional date for the closure of the Isthmus. This study highlights the invaluable role of museum collections in documenting past biodiversity, and these results could guide future conservation efforts. An abstract in Spanish (Resumen) is available as supplementary material.

Hitler's Jewish Refugees

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marion Kaplan
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
South America ◽  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Jewish Refugees ◽  
The Holocaust ◽  
History Of ◽  
North And South America ◽  
North And South

This book describes the experience of Jewish refugees as they fled Hitler to live in limbo in Portugal until they could reach safer havens abroad. As the Nazis launched the Holocaust, Lisbon emerged as the best way station for Jews to escape Europe for North and South America. Jewish refugees had begun fleeing the continent in the mid-1930s from ports closer to home. But after Germany defeated Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and France, and Italy joined the war, all in the spring of 1940, Lisbon became the port of departure from Europe. Jewish refugees from western and eastern Europe aimed for Portugal. An emotional history of fleeing, the book probes how specific locations touched refugees' inner lives, including the borders they nervously crossed or the overcrowded transatlantic ships that signaled their liberation.

scholarly journals Phylogeny and Geographic History of Annonaceae

2007 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
pp. 353-361 ◽  
Author(s):  
James A. Doyle ◽  
Annick Le Thomas
Keyword(s):  
South America ◽  
Cladistic Analysis ◽  
Early Tertiary ◽  
Fossil Seeds ◽  
Pollen Types ◽  
The Family ◽  
History Of ◽  
Origin Of Angiosperms ◽  
North And South America ◽  
North And South

ABSTRACT Whereas Takhtajan and Smith situated the origin of angiosperms between Southeast Asia and Australia, Walker and Le Thomas emphasized the concentration of primitive pollen types of Annonaceae in South America and Africa, suggesting instead a Northern Gondwanan origin for this family of primitive angiosperms. A cladistic analysis of Annonaceae shows a basal split of the family into Anaxagorea, the only genus with an Asian and Neotropical distribution, and a basically African and Neotropical line that includes the rest of the family. Several advanced lines occur in both Africa and Asia, one of which reaches Australia. This pattern may reflect the following history: (a) disjunction of Laurasian (Anaxagorea) and Northern Gondwanan lines in the Early Cretaceous, when interchanges across the Tethys were still easy and the major lines of Magnoliidae are documented by paleobotany; (b) radiation of the Northern Gondwanan line during the Late Cretaceous, while oceanic barriers were widening; (c) dispersal of African lines into Laurasia due to northward movement of Africa and India in the Early Tertiary, attested by the presence of fossil seeds of Annonaceae in Europe, and interchanges between North and South America at the end of the Tertiary.

scholarly journals Biogeography of Neotropical Meliaceae: geological connections, fossil and molecular evidence revisited

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra N. Muellner-Riehl ◽  
Blanca M. Rojas-Andrés
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
South America ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
Central American ◽  
Molecular Evidence ◽  
Geological Evidence ◽  
North Central ◽  
Modern Distribution ◽  
North And South America ◽  
North And South

AbstractWe here provide, first, a general introduction into the woody angiosperm family Meliaceae, including updated numbers of the genera and species found in different parts of the globe, paying attention to geographic centres of diversity and patterns of endemism. Second, and more specifically, we review the latest literature concerning land connections (i) between Eurasia and North America, (ii) between North America and South America, as well as (iii) dispersal paths between Africa and South America that have existed since the proposed evolutionary origin of modern Meliaceae, i.e. from the Upper Cretaceous onwards (ca. 100 Million years ago). Comparing geological evidence with the fossil record as well as biogeographic studies, there is indication that the nowadays pantropically distributed family has made use of all these three routes. Five out of the eight modern Neotropical genera have a fossil record, namely Carapa Aubl., Cedrela P. Browne, Guarea F. Allam., Swietenia Jacq., and Trichilia P. Browne. Carapa and Trichilia have a modern transatlantic disjunction (distribution in Africa, Central and South America), and a fossil record in Africa and North/Central America (Trichilia), or Africa and Eurasia (Carapoxylon). Cedrela has a rich fossil record in Eurasia and the Americas. The global decrease in temperatures and a lack of Cedrela fossils in North America from the Late Miocene onwards suggest the genus had gone extinct there by that time, leading to its modern distribution in Central and South America. Oligocene to Pliocene fossils of Guarea, Swietenia and Trichilia in Central American key regions support biotic interchange between North and South America at various times.

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