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Information Booklet (view source)
Revision as of 06:29, 24 September 2021
, 06:29, 24 September 2021→What is the impact of climate change and the ecological crisis on…
Pandemics can be minimized by using a “one-health” approach. Diseases that jump from animals to humans, such as Covid-19, can be prevented by limiting human-wildlife and livestock-wildlife interactions. In a “one-health” approach, professionals with a wide range of experience and expertise – such as public health, animal health, plant health and the environment – join forces to achieve better public health outcomes<ref>[https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/one-health World Health Organisation]</ref>. A “one-health” approach can be used to prevent human health disasters e.g a zoonotic disease outbreak like Covid-19.
Pandemics can be minimized by using a “one-health” approach. Diseases that jump from animals to humans, such as Covid-19, can be prevented by limiting human-wildlife and livestock-wildlife interactions. In a “one-health” approach, professionals with a wide range of experience and expertise – such as public health, animal health, plant health and the environment – join forces to achieve better public health outcomes<ref>[https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/one-health World Health Organisation]</ref>. A “one-health” approach can be used to prevent human health disasters e.g a zoonotic disease outbreak like Covid-19.
Halting and reversing ecosystem degradation, such as deforestation, will protect plants that are valuable to medical research and also reduce the risk of zoonotic disease pandemics.
Climate change has an impact on economic growth in all regions. Countries in the tropics and Southern Hemisphere subtropics are expected to experience the largest impact on economic growth due to climate change if global warming increases from 1.5 to 2°C<ref>[https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/chapter/spm/ IPCC B5.5]</ref>, and even more with greater levels of warming.
Many people across the world are living in regions that, by 2015, had already experienced warming of more than 1.5°C for at least one season<ref>[https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/sites/2/2019/06/SR15_Full_Report_High_Res.pdf IPCC 1.2.1, 1.2.2]</ref><sup><sup>]</sup></sup>. The impact of climate change falls disproportionately on the poorest and most vulnerable. Limiting global warming to 1.5°C, compared with 2°C, could reduce the number of people exposed to climate-related risks by up to several hundred million by 2050<ref>[https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/chapter/spm/ IPCC B5.1]</ref>.
We are increasingly seeing evidence of climate change-induced migration<ref name=":4" />. According to the UN Refugee Agency, refugees, internally displaced people (IDPs) and the stateless are on the front lines of the climate crisis<ref name=":13">[https://www.unhcr.org/climate-change-and-disasters.html UNHCR, Climate Change and Disaster Displacement]</ref>. Many are living in climate "hotspots", where they typically lack the resources to adapt to an increasingly hostile environment. Hazards resulting from the increasing intensity and frequency of extreme weather events, such as unusually heavy rainfall, prolonged droughts, desertification, environmental degradation, or sea-level rise and cyclones are already causing an average of more than 20 million people to leave their homes and move to other areas in their countries, or leave their countries entirely, each year<ref name=":13" /><ref>[https://www.un.org/en/chronicle/article/will-there-be-climate-migrants-en-masse UN Chronicle “Will There Be Climate Migrants en Masse?'''”''']</ref>.
At the end of 2020, around seven million people in 104 countries and territories were living in displacement as a result of disasters that happened not only in 2019, but also in previous years<ref name=":14">[https://www.internal-displacement.org/global-report/grid2021/ IDMC, Global Displacement Report] </ref>. The top five countries with the highest number of IDPs due to disasters were Afghanistan (1.1 million); India (929,000); Pakistan (806,000); Ethiopia (633,000), and Sudan (454,000)<ref name=":14" />. In 2017, some 1.5 million US Americans migrated in the face of natural disasters, temporarily or permanently, to other parts of the country<ref>https://www.internal-displacement.org/countries/united-states</ref>.
=== … food security? ===
Food security means that all people, at all times, have physical, social, and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food that meets their food preferences and dietary needs for an active and healthy life<ref>[https://www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/food_security.shtml#:~:text=What%20is%20food%20security%3F,a%20productive%20and%20healthy%20life. United Nations' Committee on World Food Security] </ref>.
Food security is threatened by the loss of pollinators and fertile soil as a result of the ecological crisis, and the Earth’s capacity to sustain growing needs for nutritious food will continue to weaken in the face of ongoing environmental declines.
Climate change has already affected food security due to warming, changing rain patterns and a greater frequency of extreme weather. Changes in weather means that in recent years crop yields have declined in some regions, and increased in others. Climate change is affecting food security in drylands, particularly those in Africa, and high mountain regions of Asia and South America<ref>[https://www.ipcc.ch/srccl/ IPCC 2019 Special Report on Land] SPM Section A </ref>.
Climate change effects will interact with other risks such as food security, and social and political factors. One example of this can be found in parts of West Africa. In the Sahel, desertification means that cattle herders are migrating southward with their livestock in search of grazing pastures. This has led to increasing violent clashes between these herders and farmers in the south, whose crops are being destroyed and consumed by the trespassing cattle of the nomadic herders. As a consequence, farms and farmlands are being abandoned from fear of violence, creating food shortages and threats to food security.
Reductions in food availability are expected to be more significant at 2°C compared to 1.5°C, and even greater with larger temperature changes, especially in the Sahel, southern Africa, the Mediterranean, central Europe and the Amazon<ref name=":15">[https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/chapter/spm/ IPCC Section B5.3]</ref> with smaller yields of maize, rice, wheat and other cereal crops, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, and Central and South America.
Crop and livestock production is projected to decrease and may even have to be abandoned in parts of Europe’s southern and Mediterranean regions due to the increased negative impacts of climate change<ref>[https://www.eea.europa.eu/highlights/climate-change-threatens-future-of EEA “Climate Change Threatens Futures of Farming in Europe]</ref>.
With rising temperatures it’s expected that livestock will be affected, depending on the extent of changes in available animal feed, spread of diseases, and water resource availability<ref name=":15" />. There is also evidence that climate change has resulted in changes to agricultural pests and diseases<ref>[https://www.ipcc.ch/srccl/chapter/summary-for-policymakers/ IPCC Summary for Policy Makers]</ref>.
Climate change risks to food security and access are expected to become high between 1.2-3.5°C of warming. Very high between 3-4°C warming, and catastrophic at 4°C and above.