Climate Change Impacts on Indigenous People - Research Paper Example

The Impacts of Climate Change on Indigenous Peoples Introduction Climate change isan environmental issue that affects people all over the world. Even though the roots of this problem are worldwide, the detrimental effects of climate change are excessively affecting indigenous peoples. Different populations have confronted climate change and adjusted to it since the evolution of species. The vast majority of that period is forgotten and can merely be recreated through proxy or archaeological studies, which have a great deal to contribute to current knowledge of earlier human alleviation of and adjustment to climate change. According to archaeologists, food storage is widespread and sharing or reciprocity is integral to survival during climate change and catastrophes (Cherrington 18). Nevertheless, a great deal of what populations have created in reaction to catastrophe has also been quite unsound. Social and environmental pressures lead to a huge number of deaths and conflicts. Destruction of ancient civilizations is more widespread than survival. These are vicious and potent lessons to reflect on as individuals and/or groups try to learn from indigenous communities about climate change. Across the globe, agriculture was cultivated at the conclusion of the final ice age, at the advent of the Holocene roughly 11,500 years ago (Geoffrey 18). There have been significant alterations in hydrological processes and in intense weather episodes as well, and changes in temperature throughout the Holocene. The ‘Anthropocene’ theory states that human activities, mostly agriculture and deforestation, led to rise in carbon dioxide over the last eight thousand years and rise in methane gas over the last five thousand years (Geoffrey 18). If this hypothesis is true, there are significant repercussions for human-made climate change. Measurements of climate change have coherently revealed and verified that the Earth’s climate is shifting. As reported in the latest statements of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), there is clear and indisputable proof that the climate of the world is warming and that this is almost certainly caused by anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) provoked by human beings (UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs 95). Human activity has weakened the environmental strength of the planet by exploiting the atmosphere as a cesspool for GHGs. Climate change is an adverse reaction presently felt in the world as an outcome of the increase in greenhouse gas production and discharges as a result of burning of fossil fuels, mostly for transportation and industrial operations. Due to this ‘smoke’ emitted from machines and automobiles, carbon dioxide gas is accumulated in the atmosphere and raises the intensity of heat in the planet (Chavez & Tauli-Corpuz 39-42). This occurrence is known as the ‘greenhouse effect’. Since the 19th century, global temperatures have risen by roughly 0.74%. A further increase in temperature is expected and indigenous peoples will be more seriously affected than other populations. The effect of climate change involves (UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs 95): diminishing polar sea ice and rising of sea levels, threatening low-lying coastal areas, notably many small islands in the Pacific; greater exposure to natural disasters, such as floods, and to frequent and intense extreme weather events; degradation of wetlands due to changing freeze-thaw cycles; glacial melts in high-altitude regions and subsequent inundations of valleys and hill areas; increased fires in tropical rainforests; changes in precipitation and desertification. Even though climate change is an occurrence that affects the entire world, affecting all peoples and places, different environments and areas are affected quite differently. Indigenous peoples are by now coping with effects of climate change in their everyday lives. Changes due to climate change, such as weakening of biodiversity, will negatively impact or damage the wellbeing of indigenous peoples; the ritual and cultural traditions that are not merely associated with particular annual cycles or particular species, but also with particular religious locations, etc; the customary agricultural practices of indigenous communities inhabiting mountainous areas; the subsistence of pastoralists across the globe; and the customary herding, fishing, and hunting activities of indigenous communities (Chavez & Tauli-Corpuz 22-24). Changes in the population of different species have also had an effect, and several indigenous peoples are seeing new species entering or relocating to their lands as well as dwindling in both the population and health of current species that are highly valuable to the subsistence of indigenous communities. The means accessible to indigenous communities to offset these negative impacts are inadequate. Confronting Climate Change The Amazon Rainforest has been enduring hotter temperatures, extreme famine, and reduced rain. Indigenous communities in Canada, like the Gitga’at and TI’azt’en are going through erratic weather; higher temperatures have caused the most severe insect plague in North America, wiping out a vast number of pine trees that they depend on and impinging on food availability (Abate & Kronk 6-7). Likewise, in southern Africa, stronger winds and hotter temperatures have led to vegetation loss and, consequently, this terrain, traditionally used for farming and animal domestication, is not usable anymore for customary functions. Farming traditions in South America and Asia are also endangered by higher temperatures. Climate change in the Arctic causes massive losses in natural resources that are very important to the subsistence of the indigenous peoples inhabiting the region (Abate & Kronk 7). Higher temperatures associated with climate change have contributed to the melting of permafrost and sea ice, leading to climate change effects both locally and globally. For instance, greenhouse gases that are accumulating in swamps of the permafrost of Northeastern Siberia are being emitted because of the melting of permafrost ice, thus worsening the effects of global climate change (Abate & Kronk 7). Furthermore, climate change is adversely affecting indigenous peoples in the Arctic like the Inuit and Saami; they are experiencing serious damages in their everyday activities like fishing, sealing, and whaling. The land of the Inuit is going through extreme melting of ice. Climate change has made travel, fishing, and hunting in the Arctic severely difficult (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 89). Reindeer breeders witness diminishing animal populations because of dwindling food supply and a more perilous environment. Several Arctic animals, upon which indigenous communities depend greatly for their subsistence, have abandoned their homes because of changes in weather patterns. Such effects restrict the capacity of indigenous peoples in the Arctic to depend on these animals because the indigenous communities, due to legal factors, could be bound to particular regions (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 89-91). Moreover, a number of Arctic animals are dying due to climate change. Indigenous communities in low lying island countries are also experiencing the uneven adverse effects of climate change. As the poles’ sea ice melts because of hotter temperatures associated with climate change and the ocean levels across the globe are rising, low-lying countries are vanishing. Even a moderate increase in temperature can lead to considerable sea ice melting and, consequently, considerable increases in the oceans’ water level (UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs 107-108). Indigenous communities in these places are thus confronting property loss as these waters gulp down these low-lying island countries. Similar to the Arctic’s indigenous communities, indigenous populations inhabiting low-lying islands are experiencing major alterations to their biodiversity. Increases in temperatures have damaged coral reefs, which are of enormous value to the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Islands (Abate & Kronk 8). Coral reefs are integral to the biodiversity of the area as a home for a large number of organisms, and the diminishing reef biodiversity is resulting in reduced availability of fishes. Due to climate change, indigenous communities living in these regions also may now be incapable of protecting the animals upon which they have traditionally depended for survival. Stability of food supply in this region is in danger, as in other places, due to the fact that saltwater and heat disturbances are adversely impacting agriculture (Abate & Kronk 8). Hence, even though indigenous communities of low lying countries and of the Arctic are quite distinct, similarity in their experience subsists as regards climate change effects to their flora and fauna and lands historically depended upon for survival. The Arctic has been regarded “the world’s climate change barometer” and thus indigenous communities are “the mercury in that barometer” (UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs 96)— particularly susceptible to the effects of climate change. According to the Fourth Assessment Report of the IPCC, the strength and adaptability of indigenous peoples is being seriously pressured when accompanied by lifestyle, socioeconomic, and demographic alterations (UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs 96). The Arctic is expected to lose entire ecospheres, which will have repercussions for the management, conservation, and use of forests, fisheries, and wildlife, impinging on the traditional functions of economically and culturally essential natural resources. Indigenous peoples in the Arctic are by now witnessing a decrease in traditional sources of food, like caribou and seal, which are staples of their customary diet (Peterson & Johnson 45). Several indigenous populations are being pressured to move because the melting permafrost is destroying infrastructures. All over the Arctic, moving about or travelling is becoming perilous and more costly due to the continuous thinning and melting of sea ice and irregular melting and freezing of lakes and rivers (Abate & Kronk 8). In Africa, climate change predictions show that several regions may become more parched, while others may become damper. Wandering indigenous pastoralists in Eastern and sub-Saharan Africa, who inhabit mostly semi-arid territories, have began experiencing recurrent famines that are devastating farm animals and plant life. Climate change will also have major repercussions in the observance of customary practices, activities, and wisdom of indigenous peoples in Africa (Chavez & Tauli-Corpuz 69). Hence, it is essential that adaptation to climate change and alleviation efforts consider the customary practices, activities, and wisdom of African indigenous peoples. In the Pacific, indigenous communities inhabit vulnerable regions where the impacts of coast erosion and increasing sea levels caused by climate change are most damaging. The problems confronted are land loss, coerced relocation from low-lying regions and movement of these wanderers to the customary lands of other indigenous peoples (UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs 97). These movements of indigenous peoples, also called ‘environmental refugee’, are by now occurring and are having, and will keep on having, several unfavorable economic, cultural, spiritual, and social repercussions for the affected indigenous populations (UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs 97). The Way toward Indigenous-Based Climate Change Alleviation Initiatives Maybe the biggest irony of the situation of indigenous populations and climate change is that several climate change alleviation attempts are in fact further aggravating the predicament of indigenous peoples. Numerous projects, like carbon balancing, forest management, hydroelectric power, and biofuels, which are commonly constructive interventions to mitigate climate change, are generally performed to the detriment of indigenous peoples’ rights (Abate & Kronk 8-9). Thus, numerous indigenous peoples are endangered by efforts intended for foreign peoples. Biofuels are endorsed as a climate change alleviation measure because of its being a natural energy source, but it is reported that millions of indigenous peoples will be relocated due to the proposed expansion and development of biofuel. Indigenous communities in Malaysia and Indonesia have faced massive forest degradation due to the spreading out of oil palm plantation. Brazil’s indigenous communities, particularly the Guarani tribe, are being dispossessed of their ancestral lands due to the intensification of sugar cane cultivation (Abate & Kronk 9). Hydroelectric power is also a natural energy source and being exploited as a climate change alleviation measure. However, hydroelectric dams usually take up indigenous territories, devastating their communities (Cherrington 57). For instance, in Borneo, Malaysia, thousands of indigenous communities were dislocated by the Bakun dam scheme, destroying a large portion of neighboring land. Carbon balancing and foreign management initiatives are other programs designed to reduce climate change effects and put a stop to deforestation, but also require the displacement of indigenous communities or else limiting their rights or customary access to natural resources and land use (Abate & Kronk 9-10). In Kenya, a large number of Ogiek peoples were pushed to leave their dwellings in the Mau Forest due to the country’s preservation projects, in spite of the community’s historical subsistence (Abate & Kronk 9-10). Furthermore, carbon balancing measures, as well as reduced emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD), infringe on the rights of indigenous peoples. Aside from issues concerning the effects on indigenous communities, REDD confronted numerous implementation problems, which resulted in the formation of REDD+ as a more resilient, adaptable, and effectual alternative to REDD. The progression of REDD into REDD+ “involved a transition to an enhanced, broad-based approach that includes conservation, sustainable forest management, and forest carbon stock enhancement” (Abate & Kronk 10). Indigenous peoples are only seldom taken into consideration in public, policy, and academic discussions on climate change, in spite of the absolute fact that they will be heavily affected by imminent changes. Their subsistence or survival relies greatly on their resources that are strongly influenced by changes in climate, and they usually live in politically and economically peripheral regions in highly diverse, but very vulnerably ecosystems. Indicative of the disregard for indigenous communities, the IPCC II report overview on the effects of climate change gave only limited discussion of indigenous communities, and then just in polar areas and only as vulnerable victims of climate change (Geoffrey 17). The IPCC III statement on climate change alleviation does not take into consideration the contribution of indigenous populations (Geoffrey 17-18). This perception of indigenous peoples as submissive and defenseless at best and as unhelpful and barriers at worst is an old one, with origins that may be traced back to colonial eras and reappearing in current discourses of indigenous knowledge, indigenous right, preservation, and development. Conclusions Indigenous peoples are the most endangered from the outcomes of climate change due to their reliance on and strong connection with the environment. Even though climate change is locally situated and will be momentous for indigenous communities in numerous distinct ways, indigenous populations generally are predicted to be excessively affected. Several of the outcomes of climate change are now obvious, and indigenous communities all over the world have witnessed changes in water and food supply, the amount of crop harvests, the accessibility of grazing areas, the population of animals and plants; and the migratory behavior of different species. Moreover, climate change has the capacity to affect indigenous rights, as climate change endangers indigenous territories, which are usually tied to the identity of indigenous peoples and natural and cultural resources. Works Cited Abate, Randall & Kronk, Elizabeth Ann. Climate Change and Indigenous Peoples: The Search for Legal Remedies. UK: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2013. Print. Chavez, Raymond & Tauli-Corpuz, Victoria. Guide on climate change and indigenous peoples. Michigan: Tebtebba Foundation, 2009. Print. Cherrington, Mark. Climate Change and Indigenous Peoples. New York: Cultural Survival, 2008. Print. Geoffrey, Ipyana. Climate Change and the Efforts of Indigenous People in Adaptation and Mitigation in Tukuyu, Mbeya-Rungwe District Tanzania: Climate Change and Indigenous People. Berlin: GRIN Verlag, 2011. Print. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The Regional Impacts of Climate Change: An Assessment of Vulnerability. UK: Cambridge University Press, 1998. Print. Peterson, David & Johnson, Darryll. Human Ecology and Climate Change: People and Resources in the Far North. UK: Taylor & Francis, 1995. Print. UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs. State of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. New York: United Nations Publications, 2009. 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