Transcript 26] climate change and poverty - St. Francis Xavier Church , Panvel

PPT-26
Green Earth Movement
An E-Newsletter for the cause of Environment, Peace, Harmony and Justice
Remember - “you and I can decide the future”
CLIMATE
CHANGE
AND
POVERTY
As the planet heats, climate
patterns change, with more
extreme and unpredictable
weather across the world –
many places will be hotter,
some colder. Some wetter,
others drier. We know the
planet has warmed by an
average of nearly 1ºC in the past century. Might
not sound much, but on a global scale that's a
huge increase that's creating big problems for
people and wildlife.
The poorest people and the poorest
countries are being hit hardest by
climate change. Yet they bear least
responsibility for greenhouse gas
emissions.
The 2009 Human
Impact Report
claims that
300,000 people
a year are already
dying from the
effects of climate change – and a
further four billion are vulnerable to
effects .
HOW THE CLIMATE CHANGE AFFECTS THE POOR
MOST
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Drought and water shortages
Floods and other extreme weather
Crop failures and food insecurity
Reduced agricultural productivity
Loss of low-lying lands and islands
Desertification (the gradual transformation
of habitable land into desert)
7. Loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services
8.
Spread of diseases, such as malaria
1. DROUHGT AND WATER SHORTAGES
1.1. Perhaps the most
deadly negative
consequence of climate
change will be the dramatic
increase in droughts across
the planet.
This is because when the
air's temperature increases,
it becomes able to "hold"
larger amounts of water (since warm water vapor has
a higher pressure). Since there will be more water in the air,
there will be less water on the ground to sustain crops.
1.2. The citizens of extremely poor nations are
heavily dependent on agriculture, with more than
85% of the population surviving by growing their
own food. Since these populations have almost no
savings (they can barely feed themselves much less
save for a rainy day)
these citizens' lives
are often at the
mercy of droughts;
if the rains fail to
come, these people
often die of
starvation.
1.3. Severe droughts negatively
affect extremely poor societies in
three ways.
First, droughts negatively affect
health by forcing families to go
without food, depriving them of
the nutrients needed to fight off
disease; since the nutrient
deprived, starving workers will not
be as productive as healthy workers,
productivity within the extremely poor nation is weakened,
causing the economy to suffer (as explained in chapter three,
this terrible health raises child mortality rates, which tends to
cause overpopulation and further burden the economy).
1.4. Second, having widespread drought significantly
increases a country's chances of exploding into civil war;
when a large number of people are starving to death, they are
much more likely to risk their lives as soldiers, and might be
more sympathetic to radical leaders promising something
better. If devastating drought were to engulf most of an
extremely poor continent such as Africa, drought would
combine with poverty to create an unprecedented number of
civil wars.
1.5. Third, boost of agricultural production as a means
of escaping extreme poverty; when a region can
suddenly produce more valuable food than ever
before, they have the money to enter the Cycle of
Prosperity (investments in health, education and
infrastructure create more wealth
to fund further investment). But
when a population is chronically
held back by droughts resulting
in low food supplies then they
are less likely to achieve that
boost of wealth and will remain
stuck in poverty.
2. FLOODS AND EXTREME WEATHERS
2.1. Floods are associated with particular dangers to human
populations . Climate change may increase the risk of river and
coastal flooding . The health impacts of floods may be immediate
like death and injuries caused by drowning and being swept
against hard objects, or gradual like outbreak of communicable
diseases such as those caused by ingestion of contaminated water
(e.g., cholera, hepatitis A), or respiratory diseases resulting from
overcrowding in shelters.
2.2. In developed countries, physical and disease
risks from flooding are greatly reduced by a wellmaintained
flood
control
and
sanitation
infrastructure and public health measures, such as
monitoring and surveillance activities to detect and
control outbreaks of infectious disease. Poor
countries lack this facility. Hence the poor will suffer
the most.
3. CROP FAILURES AND FOOD INSECURITY
3.1. Climate change will
worsen the living conditions
of farmers, fishers and
forest-dependent people
who are already vulnerable
and food insecure. Hunger
and malnutrition will increase. Rural communities,
particularly those living in already fragile environments,
face an immediate and ever-growing risk of increased
crop failure, loss of livestock, and reduced availability of
marine, aquaculture and forest products.
3.2. More frequent and more intense extreme weather
events will have adverse impacts on food availability,
accessibility, stability and utilization,
as well as on livelihood assets and
opportunities in both rural and
urban areas. Poor people will be at
risk of food insecurity due to loss of
assets and lack of adequate insurance
coverage. Rural people’s ability to
cope with climate change impacts depends on the
existing cultural and policy context, as well as on socioeconomic factors like gender, household composition,
age, and the distribution of household assets.
3.3. Climate change is having an impact on oceans, seas, lakes and
rivers and on the animals and plants that are found and/or
cultured in them. Climate change will affect the approximately 200
million people and their families worldwide whose livelihoods
depend on fishing and aquaculture. Some fish resources will
become less abundant while important species may move to other
areas where they are less available to the fishers.
Aquaculture practices may be
threatened, among other
factors, by increased extreme
weather events, droughts,
and the warming of waters.
This will make it harder for
many fishing communities to
continue to make a living from
fish or to provide fish for
feeding their families.
4. REDUCED AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY
4.1. Agriculture is strongly
Influenced by weather and
climate. While farmers are
often flexible in dealing with
weather and year-to-year
variability, there is nevertheless
a high degree of adaptation to
the local climate in the form of
established infrastructure, local farming practice and
individual experience. Climate change can therefore be
expected to impact on agriculture, potentially threatening
established aspects of farming systems but also providing
opportunities for improvements.
5. LOW LYING AREAS
5.1. Climate change is expected to cause serious
degradation of the coastal environment and natural
resources on which poor rural people depend. Higher
rates of erosion and coastal land loss are expected in
many Pacific Islands as a consequence of the
projected increase in sea level.
5.2. For example, for Majuro atoll in the Marshall Islands and
Kiribati, it is estimated that for a 1m rise in sea level as much
as 80% and 12.5%, respectively, of total land would be
vulnerable. Pacific Islands are shown to be mainly vulnerable
to coastal flooding and decreased extent of coastal vegetated
wetlands. There is also a detectable influence on marine and
terrestrial pathogens, such as coral diseases and oyster
pathogens.
6. DESSERTIFICATION
6.1. Desertification is land
degradation in drylands,
resulting from various
factors, including climatic
variations and human
activities. While climate
change affects the whole
world, the poorest suffer
the most. According to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
(2005), populations in drylands live under the worst economic
conditions. Drylands have the lowest GDP per capita and the
highest infant mortality rates. Soil degradation in drylands
exacerbates the problem even more. The decline in the fertility of
land reduces crop production and additional income sources.
6.2. The general rise in temperature will
predictably raise the rate of evapotranspiration leading to a drop in soil humidity
and an increase in the number of droughts. The
deterioration in the
condition of topsoil,
particularly in the
drylands, is a consequence
of temperature variations,
rainfall and soil humidity
that exacerbate the
process of desertification.
7. BIODIVERISTY - How climate change affects biodiversity ?
7.1. Climate change will have a number of impacts on
biodiversity, from ecosystem to species level.
7.2. The most obvious is the effect that flooding, sea level rise
and changes in temperature will have on ecosystem
boundaries. As a result of these shifts in boundary,
some ecosystems will expand
into new areas, while others
will become smaller. Habitats
will change as rainfall and
temperatures change, and
some species will not be
able to keep up, leading to
a sharp increase in extinction
rates.
7.3. The links between poverty, climate change and
biodiversity
Poor people are disproportionately vulnerable to the loss of
biodiversity and ecosystem services. And although they are
responsible for emitting the lowest levels of greenhouse
gases, they suffer most from the impacts of climate change.
8. SPREAD OF DECEASES
8.1. Our current climate has a number of implications for the
health of the poor. Different aspects of the climate (including
average climate conditions, seasonality and climate extremes)
affect health: e.g. vector diseases such as malaria are limited
by temperature and humidity; outbreaks of cholera often
show seasonality; and climate extremes can have a number of
health impacts from flooding, heat waves and wind-storms.
8.2. Vector-borne infectious diseases, such as
malaria and dengue fever, have a significant
impact on health and poverty. Currently,
approximately 40% of the world’s population is
at risk from malaria, and this is projected to
increase to 80% by 2080. More than half the
world’s
population live
in areas at risk
of dengue fever.
TO CONCLUDE WITH A QUOTE OF
Ban Ki-Moon
U.N. Secretary General
Saving our planet, lifting people out of poverty,
advancing economic growth... these are one
and the same fight. We must connect the dots
between climate change, water scarcity, energy
shortages, global health, food security and
women's empowerment. Solutions to one
problem must be solutions for all.
This educational PowerPoint Presentation (editable) is
prepared by GEM Team (courtesy: internet).
For other similar GEM PowerPoint Presentations on various
environmental issues see next slide.
These PPTs may be downloaded from our website
www.stfrancisxavierpanvel.in
The GEM PPTs can be creatively used for various groups
like school/college students, NGOs, government officials,
Church groups, SCC groups, housing society members
and so on.
Zero Garbage
Solar Energy
Junk Food
Twenty Tips To Save Nature
Plastic – a boon or bane?
Green Passion
Soft drink – A Health Hazard
Waste to energy
Rain Water Harvesting
Eco-friendly Religions
Happy Green Diwali
Climate Change
The future of Biodiversity
Genetically Modified Foods
Waste Water Treatment
Give thanks, Give Life (Body,
Organ, Tissue Donation)
Organic Farming
Waste to cooking gas
Reduce, Reuse. Recycle
Protect Mangroves
Say NO to Bottled water
Save Lakes and Ponds
Forests are green lungs
Coal Mining and Ecology
Sin of Food Waste
Climate change and Poverty
Stop Water Pollution
Carbon Footprints
Parks and Open Spaces
Rising Sea Levels
For Free Weekly GEM E-Newsletters visit –
www.stfrancisxavierpanvel.in – every
Friday. Go to GEM section,
click GEM E-NEWSLETTERS