Martha Davies sheds light on some of the less-discussed concerning effects of climate change.
Photo by Long Ma
The threat of global warming has been hanging over us for decades, yet we have grown accustomed to the menacing shadows it casts. It is both an environmental and humanitarian emergency, and in order to fight it, it is vital that we understand the wide-ranging risks it poses.
Temperatures may be climbing, but there are many other issues to consider. Scientists have warned, for example, that extreme weather events are trending upwards as a result of climate change. Devastating wildfires in California, record-breaking heatwaves in Sweden and increasingly alarming floods in Bangladesh are only adding to the burden of bitingly cold winters and scorching summers.
Extreme Weather
Temperature spikes are becoming more deadly, with huge numbers of extra deaths recorded in the 2018 UK heatwave and an estimated 7,000 people a year predicted to die of heat-related deaths by 2050.
Meanwhile, climate change is increasing the risk and severity of droughts, which can be the most expensive weather-related emergencies. Evidence even suggests that extreme droughts were an impetus for the unrest that preceded the Syrian civil war; combined with precarious social and political conditions, extreme weather can be just the beginning of a lethal catastrophe.
‘Extreme weather attribution studies’ are being carried out with growing urgency to assess the link between these weather patterns and human activity, and the results are frightening. The Met Office reports that nearly all of the 150 studies performed by the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) suggest human influence.
It is clear there is a lot more to this crisis than rising global surface temperatures; nature may seem to be fighting us, but we are the real culprits in this battle, and we must work to majorly reduce our negative impact on the planet.
Shifting weather patterns have a disastrous effect on the agriculture industry. Heatwaves, droughts and storms can wipe out livestock and crop yields and hugely affect water supplies. As conditions become ever more unpredictable, farmers are struggling to cope. The damage of extreme weather is far-reaching; an estimated 80% of the agriculture sector in Honduras was annihilated by two Category 4 hurricanes last November, crippling the livelihoods of farmers across the country.
The Health Risks of Global Warming
Our reliance on fossil fuels has caused critical levels of air pollution and smog. Levels of greenhouse gases like methane, nitrous oxide, and carbon dioxide are continuing to climb, despite the pledge made by numerous countries to become ‘net zero’ by 2050.
But rising temperatures pose further risks. Warmer freshwater sources are more likely to be contaminated by bacteria, for example, and pandemics may become a regular threat since more animals are being forced to migrate due to weather changes, meaning that diseases are being transmitted to humans in new ways.
Climate Disasters and Mass Migration
In the wake of the catastrophes triggered by climate change, record-breaking numbers of people have also crossed borders in the hope of rebuilding their lives. The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) reported that weather-related incidents - some linked to global warming - displaced nearly 24 million people in 2019. Such displacement is known as climate migration, and it can be observed across the world.
Droughts and irregular rainfall have crippled the so-called Dry Corridor running from Southern Mexico to Costa Rica, decimating immense portions of agricultural land and causing severe food shortages. The World Bank predicts that around 143 million people within South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Latin America will become climate migrants by 2050 if we do not take drastic action against climate change.
Yet this is not simply an issue for far-off lands; many people are migrating from Mexico to America as extreme weather makes farming almost impossible. Meanwhile, people are becoming climate migrants within America itself as the coast of Louisiana is obliterated by erosion and wildfires displace millions across the country.
Hidden Impacts on our Oceans
Rising temperatures cause glaciers and ice sheets to melt, triggering a terrifying rise in sea levels. But sea level rise is also impacted because the oceans themselves are getting warmer, leading them to expand. Coral bleaching is a serious consequence of this, meaning the starvation and death of many coral reefs. Other sea creatures are at risk because the oceans absorb almost a third of manmade carbon dioxide emissions and have therefore become dangerously acidic.
By refusing to face the reality of rising temperatures and the innumerable impacts of human-caused climate change, we are putting every one of the planet’s inhabitants at risk.
It is time to face these dark clouds. They are no longer signs of ominous threats to come; instead they take the shape of real disasters occurring across the globe. The crisis isn’t on the horizon – it is already here.
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