HOW TO ADAPT TO CLIMATE CHANGE
HOW TO ADAPT TO CLIMATE CHANGE
What is climate change?
Climate change refers to the long-term shift in temperature and weather patterns. These shifts may be natural, like differences in the solar cycle. But for the past 2 centuries, it has been noticed that climate change has greatly been caused by human activities, primarily due to the burning of fossil fuels like coal, gas, and oil, and excessive cutting down forests.
When fossil fuels undergo burning, it produces greenhouse gases such as methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2) which when emitted, act as a blanket wrapped around the earth; trapping the sun's heat within and raising temperatures. So thus excessive cutting down of trees.
The carbon dioxide gas aiding in climate change occurrence alongside methane gas is derived from using gasoline in cars or from coal through the burning of forests, buildings, and farmlands.
In addition to fossil fuels, methane gas is also emitted from garbage landfills. Energy industries, building, transportation, agriculture, and land use industries are amongst the main greenhouse gas emitters.
We will be organising sensitization and educative programs to inform farmers of the importance of trees in our society
Tree-kids .Is one of our pilot projects where we will be educating kids from the age of 5 to 15 on the importance of trees so they can grow with that cautiosness of caring for their environment
https://www.givingway.com/campaign/5ccb75d9
Consequences of climate change (from the European Commission (https://ec.europa.eu/info/index_en))
Climate change is affecting all areas around the world. Extreme weather occurrences and rainfall are becoming more common, polar ice shields are melting and the sea is rising while another part of the earth is experiencing extreme heat and droughts.
Climate change is a very serious threat to every living thing on earth. Its consequences affect many different aspects of our lives. Below are some of climate change's main threats.
1) Natural consequences
Ø Drought; is a period when an area or region experiences below-normal precipitation. Droughts often have huge effects on transportation, agriculture, forestry, water, and biodiversity. It reduces water levels in ground waters and rivers, increases pest attacks and fuels wildfires, and stunts trees, and crops grown.
Ø High temperatures; high temperatures can cause increased mortality, damage to infrastructure, and reduced productivity. These are seen to severely affect mostly the elderly and infants. Higher temperatures also cause a shift in the geographical distribution of many plant and animal species. Temperature rise is seen also to greatly influence the behavior and life cycles of plant and animal species; in turn, leading to an increase in the number of pest species and a high incidence of certain human diseases. Higher temperatures increase the evaporation of water, which together with the lack of precipitation increases the rate of droughts.
Ø Flooding; climate change has caused increased precipitation in many areas around the world, leading to increased rainfall over prolong periods extending to flooding
Ø Biodiversity; the rate of climate change is greatly increasing daily and many plants and animal species are struggling to cope. Climate change is causing direct and indirect impacts on biodiversity. Direct impacts include changes in the behavior and lifecycles of plants and animal species, species distribution and population, habitat structure, and ecosystem processes. Indirect impacts on biodiversity through changes in the use of land and other resources.
Ø Soil; Climate change may increase the rate of soil erosion, landslides, flooding, desertification, and decline in organic matter. Deforestation and other human activities such as agriculture play a role in soil degradation alongside extreme precipitation, high river discharging, and melting ng of ice or snow.
2) Social threats
Ø Health; climate change is a major threat to the health of humans, plants, and animals all around the world. Below are some of the most health effects caused by climate change.
To man\animals
§ Mental health;
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
- Stress, anxiety, depression, grief, sense of loss
- Strains in social relationship
§ Medical and physical health;
- Allergies
- Change in fitness plasticity level
- Increase exposure to waterborne and vector-borne diseases
§ Community health;
- Increase violence and crime
- Increase interpersonal aggression
- Increase social instability
- Decrease community cohesion
To plants
- Emerging and re-emerging plant pests (such as pathogens, insects, and other pests) and diseases affecting crop systems and vegetation.
- Changes in the seasonal distribution of some allergenic pollen species, pest, and disease distribution.
- Changes in the impact of diseases e.g. from water-borne, vector-borne, or food-borne diseases.
-
Ø Employment; climate change shows significant challenges to economic growth and employment in our today's world. The ILO (International Labor Organization) report says,
- 43 million jobs will be lost globally due to rising temperatures
- Heat will cut down two percent of working hours worldwide
- Billions of dollars will be lost by 2030 globally due to climate change
Among the economic sectors worst affected will be the wine industry, tourism sector, agriculture sector, fishing sector, food & beverage sector, and energy sector among others.
Ø Education; climate change affects air quality, access to clean water, safe housing, and food production. This in turn increases school dropout, and absenteeism and threatens to learn, negatively impacting the safety and well-being of students.
Ø Population; the number of people on earth is a factor that causes climate change. Every additional person increases carbon emissions and increases the number of climate change victims. Population growth affects the earth’s ability to withstand climate change and absorb emissions, such as through deforestation as land is converted for agricultural use to feed the growing population.
3) Business threats
Ø Energy; more intense and frequent heat waves will shift the energy demand and supply graph, often in opposite directions. Continuous increases in temperature and droughts may reduce the availability of cooling water for thermal power production in summer (thus, decreasing energy supply), while the demand for air conditioning will increase. Climate change also brings an increase in uncertainty in weather patterns precisely across Europe, with a direct negative impact in the long term on the production of renewable energy.
Ø Agriculture; climate change is seen to have an intense effect on the agricultural sector, both regarding the location where different crops can be grown and crop yields. Extreme weather, high temperatures, and water shortage may cause low yields, high yield variability, and a reduction in suitable areas for cultivation in a long run.
Ø Infrastructure and buildings; the impact of climate change are disastrous to infrastructure and buildings. Its impact or consequences differs from region to region. Buildings found in flood-prone or landslide areas are highly affected by the impacts of climate change.
Ø Tourism; the impact of climate change may also affect tourism demand directly, interfering with the choice of destination and the period of the trip, or indirectly affecting the quality of the experience, adverse perception after some extreme event, and insecurity about the destination.
From SciELO.org (on tourism)
From https://www.un.org/ (all below)
Climate change is here. Beyond doing everything we can to decrease emissions and slow the pace of global warming, we must adapt to climate change consequences so we can protect ourselves and our communities. Below are some of the listed adaptions to climate change:
1. Planting or preserving trees around your home; will help to keep temperatures cooler, most especially in regions of intensive heat.
2. Clearing a bush instead of burning might reduce fire hazards.
3. Everyone should be aware of the possibly greater potential for natural disasters where they live and what resources they have in case these happen; this might mean purchasing insurance in advance, or knowing where you can get disaster information and relief during a crisis.
4. Our economies and societies as a whole need to become more resilient to climate impact; this will require large-scale efforts, many of which will be orchestrated by the government.
5. Roads and bridges may need to be built or adapted to withstand higher temperatures and more powerful storms.
6. Some cities on coastlines may have to establish systems to prevent flooding in streets and underground transport.
7. Some communities highly prone to climate change impact need to move to new locations because it will be too difficult to adapt.
If all of this sounds expensive, it is – but the important thing to remember is that we already know a lot about how to adapt. More is being learned every day. Further, investing in adaptation makes a lot more sense than waiting and trying to catch up later, as many counties have learned during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Protecting people now saves more lives and reduces risks moving forward. It makes financial sense too because the longer we wait, the more the cost will escalate.
Think about this. Globally, a $1.8 trillion investment in early warning systems, climate-resilient infrastructure, improved agriculture, global mangrove protection along coastlines, and resilient water resources could generate $7.1 trillion through a combination of avoided costs and benefits. Universal access to early warning systems can deliver benefits up to 10 times the initial cost. And if more farms installed solar-powered irrigation, used new crop varieties, had access to weather alert systems, and took other adaptive measures, the world would avoid a drop-off in global agricultural yields of up to 30 percent by 2050.
We will be organising sensitization and educative programs to inform farmers of the importance of trees in our society
Tree-kids .Is one of our pilot projects where we will be educating kids from the age of 5 to 15 on the importance of trees so they can grow with that cautiosness of caring for their environment
https://www.givingway.com/campaign/5ccb75d9