Effects of Climate Change - Research Paper Example

?Introduction Climate change, as a result of global warming, is an environmental problem, which has emerged in the last 50 years and is projected to worsen significantly in the near future. Over a period of approximately 100 years, it has been observed that temperatures around the globe have been going up at a significant rate. It is estimated that within this period, the earth’s surface temperatures have gone up by approximately 0.8o C, which might not seem threatening but scientists agree that even a slight increase in temperature may cause a significant imbalance in nature (Drake, 2009). For example, the temperature at which ice can be maintained is usually 0o Celsius or lower and therefore, an increase in temperature of about 0.1 deg/ Celsius has the capacity to melt the ice. Therefore, it is justifiable to imagine the level of damage, which has occurred over the last 100 years. Most notably, scientists have warned that there is a possibility that this temperature will increase by 1.1o C by the end of this century if stern measures are not taken to prevent it. Green house gas emissions such as Carbon dioxide, Methane, Nitrous Oxide among others have been credited for the increases in global surface temperatures as a result of their capacity to trap and maintain heat from the sun (Hardy, 2003). Human beings are contributing greatly to the high concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, through their numerous economic activities such as charcoal burning, deforestation, application of fertilizers and aerosol sprays as well as mechanization among others. This paper is a critical evaluation of climate change, as a direct consequence of global warming, and its effects on humans and nature. Discussion Human Health Weather and climate have affected human health for more than 1000 years (Hardy, 2003). A change in climate means that human beings have to experience unexpected changes in weather patterns such that it becomes difficult to plan for disasters such as flooding, drought and other extreme weather conditions, which have a direct impact on human health. Traditionally, it was easy to tell the exact time to expect rainfall and in what quantities but the current environment has made it difficult to achieve this. Rainfall is important as it facilitates humans with water to maintain sanitation, but only when it falls at the desired time and in the right quantities. Due to global climate change, areas that used to experience huge amounts of rainfall are now experiencing minimum rainfall such that they are now becoming arid like while at other times rain is falling in excessive amounts, leading to flooding. Low rainfall means that there is not enough clean water for domestic purposes. In such a circumstance, it becomes difficult to maintain hygiene and consequently, diseases such as diarrhea, typhoid, dysentery and cholera among others become a health hazard. In addition, malnutrition as a result of withering of crops due to lack of sufficient rainfall is also a health condition, which has been noted to occur in the contemporary world. According to the World Health Organization (2008), “Malnutrition, much of it caused by periodic droughts, is already responsible for an estimated 3.5 million deaths each year.” Flooding on the other hand, is a condition, which brings as much health calamities as those caused by drought. To begin with, flooding involves having stagnant water in areas that are largely flat in nature. Human beings live in these areas and every time there are floods, they are forced to take refuge on higher grounds, where they live under poor hygienic conditions especially due to lack of facilities such as toilets and latrines to dispose off human waste. In addition, flooding contributes to the mixing of ground and surface water with dirt and other effluent from raw sewerage and this becomes a catastrophe especially in third world countries and other emerging economies, which rely mainly on surface water for drinking and other domestic purposes. This water therefore carries a lot of pathogens, which causes infections such as cholera, typhoid and dysentery among other waterborne diseases such as diarrhea. According to WHO (2008), “diarrhea is considered as the second most cause of child mortality and it contributes to approximately 1.8 million deaths on yearly basis.” These are highly prevent in countries such as India and most parts of Africa, where there are fewer water resources to sustain the ever growing population, as compared to other developed nations such as the US and UK. It is also important to state that flooding, as a result of heavy rainfall, is dangerous to the survival of humans. Hundreds of people are swept away by floods on yearly basis while others die as a result of mud slides, which are highly prevalent during the rainy seasons. Due to the climate change, it has become difficult for governments to plan ahead and this only magnifies the problem further. It is also important to note that some of the diseases such as malaria are highly prevalent in areas that are prone to flooding. This is due to the fact that floods result to widespread stagnation of water and this becomes a rich ground for the reproduction of mosquitoes, which are considered as the major carriers of pathogens that cause malaria among other infections such as rift valley fever and dengue (Hardy, 2003). Flooding in the contemporary society has become a common problem even in countries such as the US and UK, which are considered as some of the world’s economic giants. The UK, for example, has been forewarned of a looming danger posed by flooding in the next 50 to 80 years. According to reports based on scientific research, it will cost the country close to ?12 billion per year to mitigate the effects of flooding, which is extremely high compared to the current annual expenditure of approximately ?1.2 billion spent on the same. Most importantly, these reports indicate that this cost will be in terms of destruction on property and buildings, which will affect more than 3 million people on annual basis (Drake, 2009). This is a high population, which will have to suffer most of the above mentioned problems based on the fact that diseases and infections do not discriminate on the basis of Geographical location or the economic status of a country. There is therefore need to scrutinize and act on causation factors that are contributing to rapid climatic changes both at local and international levels. However, it is only right to consider how this will affect poor countries, which cannot raise such amounts to assist citizens when the need arises. Currently, these countries are the ones, which are suffering not withstanding the fact that rich and highly industrialized nations such as US and China are the major contributors of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Heat waves as a result of climate change have also been a major threat to human health. According to National Wildlife Federation (2010), “more than 70 million Americans experienced extreme heat during the months of June and July 2010. Hundreds of daily temperature records were broken across the country.” Some of the states that were badly affected included; North Carolina, Delaware, Florida and New Jersey among others. As a result of these heat waves, persons such as the aged, those with conditions such as diabetes and heart diseases become vulnerable and end up losing their lives. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2010) observes that the population of vulnerable people in the US i.e. those aged 65 and above will increase to 20% in 2060 from approximately 12.4% in 2000. In addition, it is expected that by 2060, more than 60% of the world’s population will be living in cities and it is notable that urbanization is one of the contributing factors to global warming and subsequent climatic change. This is due to the fact that it contributes to the clearing of vegetation and forest cover in order to create more space for settlement. Forests are important in balancing the quantities of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere due to the fact that they consume CO2 during photosynthesis and gives out oxygen as a by product. In addition, buildings in cities and towns have the capacity to trap heat thus resulting to hot conditions that are harmful to human health. The National Wildlife Federation (2010) observes that, “In the United States, heat waves already kill more people during a typical year than floods, tornadoes and earthquakes combined.” In July 1995, for example, the US recorded one of the greatest heat waves in its history, which recorded temperatures exceeding 45oC not withstanding the fact that human beings are well suited to survive under temperatures not exceeding 37oC. During this period in the US, statistics indicate that approximately 1000 people lost their lives. Out of these, 465 were recorded in Chicago while 85 deaths were recorded in Milwaukee. Europe also experienced a similar heat wave in 2003, whereby approximately 3000 people lost their lives. France is believed to have recorded the highest number of victims. Forest fires, which are highly prevalent during the hot weather, also claimed 15 lives while more were saved after Switzerland’s authorities acted swiftly by halting mountain climbing in areas that melting of ice was occurring as a result of high temperatures (Hardy, 2003). Agriculture Majority of world’s population depends on Agriculture for survival. Agriculture on the other hand is dependent on climate and therefore, climate change has a direct impact on agriculture. Agricultural activities include and not limited to crop and animal production. In order for crops to produce desirable yields, there must be favoring weather conditions such as rainfall and temperature. However, as it may have been discussed here in, rainfall patterns have changed dramatically over the last 50 years such that it has become difficult for farmers to decide on when to plant especially in developing countries, where 70% of farmers rely highly on rain fed agriculture (Drake 2009). If the rains are delayed, it means that a country has to survive on the harvests of the previous season for a longer period as the delay would result to an extension of the harvesting season and this means that it would be difficult to achieve food security. As a way of solving this, governments are investing in irrigation schemes and this is contributing to the over utilization of water flowing on the rivers. Irrigation is highly expensive as it increases the demand for power to pump water from the rivers and it is worth noting that an increase in demand for power results to over utilization of water especially for the production of hydro electricity, which is not a clean source of energy. Furthermore, it is difficult to facilitate irrigation to communities living in arid and semi arid areas, where most of the rivers present are seasonal due to hot weather conditions. All these factors considered, poor countries, especially those in the sub-Saharan are expected to suffer high levels of food insecurity within a period of the next 70 years. During this period, food production is estimated to fall by approximately 12% although there are statistics, which indicate that some of the African countries will experience a fall of approximately 60% (Hardy, 2003). This will definitely reduce the amount of exports by these countries, which are some of the best producers of items such as tea, coffee, and cocoa among other food items. The effect of this cannot be under estimated considering the fact that majority of these countries depend on foreign exchange earned through exportation and therefore, it is most definitely that such an occurrence will have a direct impact on price commodities. Food and water scarcity is one of the major threats to human survival as it contributes to high inflation and in countries where large populations earn less than a dollar per day, it becomes difficult to afford even a single decent meal per day. The effect of this is that malnutrition will become a major challenge in the health sector whereas conflicts as a result of competition for scarce water and food resources will become rampant. The Sahara desert, for example, is estimated to be expanding southwards at a rate of more than 40 km per year and this means that communities living in these areas will have to lose a significant share of arable land to desertification within the next 100 years. Some parts of Northern China, such as Alashan, are also experiencing similar conditions whereby it is approximated that desertification is occurring at a rate of more than 900 km2, making this are one of the driest regions in the country. In this area, the amount of rainfall has decreased significantly from approximately 300 mm to 50 mm and this only a sample of how climate change is affecting the world (Drake, 2009). Despite the fact that rainfall is a blessing to farming, sometimes it can be a blessing in disguise. Too much rainfall causes flooding, which in turn results to destruction of crops. Crops such as maize require dry conditions during their time of maturity in order to facilitate drying. However, farmers are experiencing huge losses as a result of unexpected rains during harvest time, which causes decay and poisoning of grains. Aflatoxin, for example, is a fungal infection, which occurs in grains such as maize, wheat, sorghum among others, primarily due to high humidity and dampness at the time of storage. High rainfall and strong winds also leads to the destruction of crops such as wheat, which have weak stems that cannot support the plants thus leading to their bending, which makes it difficult to harvest. Flooding also leads to soil erosion, which contributes to the sweeping away of the top soil which carries most of the nutrients especially from fertilizers. This soil is swept into water reservoirs such as dams, and fishponds as well as other water bodies, where silting occurs thereby resulting to their ineffectiveness in storing water. The fertilizers and other chemicals as well as poisonous waste in the soil are harmful to marine life especially fish and this contributes to their death and/or deformity. Consequently, fish farmers end up recording losses thereby resulting to their impoverishment (Hardy, 2003). Biodiversity According to the Drake (2009), “Climate change is already having an impact on biodiversity, and is expected to become an increasingly more significant threat in the next 100 years” (p. 88) It has already been established that climate change is as a result of anthropogenic pollution, which has increased the amounts of green house gasses in the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is one of the gasses, which is credited with the acidification of oceans, which has subsequently led to the harming of marine life. It is estimated that more than 50% of CO2 in the atmosphere is absorbed by the oceans and when this occurs, the water becomes acidic as a result of the formation of carbonic acid. Consequently, oceanic creatures, especially those with shells are deformed as a result of the corrosive effect of the water. Some of these organisms have shells that are built out of calcium carbonate. According to Hardy (2003), the existence of coral reefs is also under threat of extinction, based on the fact that they are highly composed of calcium carbonate. This is a problem, which will result to loss of income acquired from tourists, who visit oceans to watch these structures. It is estimated that coral reefs generate more than $300 million globally on annual basis. Furthermore, they are considered as shelter to more than 25% of organisms that live in the oceans including fish. The effects of global warming and subsequent climate change are also leading to destruction of ecosystems, which support the survival of plants and animals (Hardy, 2003). Due to hot weather conditions and scarcity of rainfall, wild fires are occurring in forests and this has been noted as one of the factors affecting migration of wildlife. Forests, especially those with trees that take long to mature, are being turned into grass lands, which is advantageous to herbivores and in extension, carnivores. Consequently, these animals take longer or shorter to migrate depending on the availability of food, which is also influenced by the level of precipitation. However, birds are the major losers as they depend on these trees to build their nests and also as a source of food. Extreme hot weather conditions are also forcing wildlife to travel long distances in search of better habitats. Conclusion Climate change, as a result of global warming, is an environmental problem, which has emerged in the last 50 years and is projected to worsen significantly in the near future. Human activities are the major contributing factors to this anthropogenic climate change, which has adverse effects on human health, agriculture and biodiversity. Some of these activities are for example; deforestation, charcoal burning, pollution from industries, all of which increases the amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. In order to save these important facets of nature, efforts must be made to control the rate at which climate change is occurring. Otherwise, the next 100 years will record an extinction of important plant and animal species, which are the surviving blocks for humans. References Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (2010). Heat-Related Morbidity and Mortality. Retrieved 21 April 2012, from http://www.cdc.gov/climatechange/effects/heat_related.htm Drake, F. (2009). Global Warming: The Science of Climate Change. Hodder Education Publishers Hardy, J. (2003). Climate Change: Causes, Effects, and Solutions. Wiley National Wildlife Foundation (2010). Global Warming Bringing More Extreme Heat Waves. Retrieved 21 April 2012, from http://www.nwf.org/News-and-Magazines/Media-Center/News-by-Topic/Global-Warming/2010/08-11-10-Heat-Waves.aspx World Health Organization (WHO) (2008). The Impact of Climate Change on Human Health. Retrieved 21 April 2012, from http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/statements/2008/s05/en/index.html Read More