Inequality - a topic to ponder upon due to climate change

“It’s not only government. Government cannot do it alone. The UN cannot do it alone. There should be full partnership… then we should have civil society coming together. Even one normal citizen – they have a role to play.”

- Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General, United Nations

Keep the above quote on your mind until you finish reading the blog.

Watery aspects of inequality

Water - a magic fluid present all around us! An elixir of life - present in small cells as well as large oceans but a fact to worry - "2.2 billion people all around the world don't have access to clean drinking water" [1]. This is just the a start to the problems and threats we face as a civilisation. So today, let's talk about Inequality (you might not be affected by flood once in your life but many people face it each and every year of their life since they are born).

In the past 20 years, flooding has affected more people than any other weather-related disasters [2] . The dry places get more drier and the wet places get more wetter year over year. Check out the number of people affected by major flooding events.

Floods can destroy the drinking supply tanks and pipes - mixing the contaminated dirty water with the clean drinking water, making it unsafe to consume. Rising sea levels and droughts get even worse - check out the number of people that would be affected and will not be having access to drinking water.

Droughts and extreme heat significantly reduced national cereal production by 9–10%, whereas our analysis could not identify an effect from floods and extreme cold in the national data [3] .

Foody aspects of inequality

Climate change will affect crop growth in very different ways around the world, based on the local climate and types of crop grown there. Europe will see an increase in yield of it's seven major crops by 8% on an average by 2050 - that's great for Europe but its not a good news for each and every part of the world.

Countries already suffering from high levels of hunger will suffer the greatest food losses - another example of the unequal and unfair effects of climate change. Global growth of wheat, rice, maize, and soybean is expected to decrease. These crops make up 66% of the calories that everyone eats around the world [4] .

Insects and diseases are another problem: they currently destroy 20% of all wheat, rice, maize, and soy. Climate change is likely to make this even worse as insects and diseases spread towards the poles. This could reduce the yield increases that have been predicted for cooler climates like Europe.

Non - "HEALTHY" aspects

Climate change is a not-so-easy cycle to get out from and it leads us to the most fundamental joy a human ever has - Health . Heatwaves are expected to rise in numbers and it is estimated that it would cause 38,000 - 50,000 deaths between 2030 and 2050 [5] . More heatwaves - more dehydration - more water - less clean water - more health problems due to water + heatwaves (Devil cries out in joy and says : ENJOY !!!).

You can clearly see that it is going to be worse than you can ever think of but thanks to COVID - a warning signal of how devastating climate change could bein the future. Now comes the bonus bumper - Air pollution.

Air pollution can worsen breathing conditions such as asthma[7], as well as increasing lung cancer, strokes and heart disease[7]. There’s also evidence that air pollution can make infection by air-borne viruses worse[8][9]. Global warming affects air pollution because of things like increased wildfires and the changes to gas concentrations at ground level which occur in hotter temperatures.If no changes are made to stop this, air pollution could cause 1,000-4,300 more deaths per year in the USA alone by 2050.

Check out the video below to find out what it does to lives all around the world.

NOTE: The video given below is 4 years old since the upload of this blog.

Injustice

It is predicted that the worst damage will hit the people who are least responsible for causing it. In other words, the countries that produce lower greenhouse gas emissions will be the most affected.

Without urgent action, climate change impacts could push an additional 100 million people into poverty by 2030. Over 99 percent of deaths already thought to have happened because of climate change occur in developing countries – and children make up over 80 percent of those deaths.

It is predicted that by 2050, 1 in every 45 people in the world will have had to leave their homes due to climate change! People may migrate in this way to escape drought, flooding and other extreme weather events. Sea level rise is already forcing people to move and if temperatures rise by 3°C, coastal cities like Miami and Shanghai may go completely underwater!

All these consequences are likely to cause more conflict between different communities and countries. Poverty, lack of resources and migration can all lead to conflict, and each of these is expected to worsen with climate change.

Hope this might change a bit of your perspective on climate change and it's future effects on our own civilisation.

“We are the first generation that can end poverty and the last generation that can take steps to avoid the worst impact of climate change. Future generations will judge us harshly if we fail to uphold our moral and historical responsibilities.”

- Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General, United Nations