Introduction

The effects of climate change are already affecting the planet and society and scientists have predicted that these effects will not slow down in the generations to come.

Climate change effects caused by global warming are often observed in the changes of water cycle, such as the increase of water vapour concentration in the atmosphere, the changing patterns, intensity and extremes of precipitation, massive ice melts and decreased snow cover, and the changes in soil moisture and runoff (IPCC, 2007). These changes cause heatwaves, floods and intense drought all over the world, in addition to intense storms, tropical cyclones and  hurricanes, extreme weather and shifts in seasons (IPCC, 2007). These disastrous events causes not only social and economical damage but also health problems, especially in third-world countries and marginalized groups, especially those who live in rural area and poverty.

Watch the following video to learn more about the effects of climate change:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GjrS8QbHmY

(Video is by SkyNews)

Some scientist have predicted that the differences of how regions are affected by climate change are getting more extreme. But how do all these effects exactly impact the society? In this post, we will be looking at four aspects on how the consequences of climate change can affect society; social, economic, health and political.

Explanation

Social

1. Small farmers will feel the effects of climate change and higher food volatility

Currently, small farmers, especially those in the developing countries, are facing the challenges in terms of getting a reasonable price for their produce, protecting against weather and pests, and competing with large-scale monoculture agricultural systems. The consequences of climate change will deteriorate the matter for these small farmers with the shift in climate and agricultural zones, changing precipitation patterns and changes in production patterns due to higher global temperatures. Not only will this severely affect the livelihood of these small farmers, climate change can threaten food supplies and security. With this increased risk, there may be times where there is food shortage or food excess, thus higher volatility in global food prices.

2. Rural and urban poor are the hardest hit

In 2016, there was an estimated 896 million poor people who live in extreme poverty (World Hunger, 2016). Most of these people rely on their surrounding natural resources for daily survival. With climate change causing extreme floods or droughts, poverty and inequality will become worst. These disadvantaged people do not have the resources to cope with such effects that may get them displaced from their homes and way of life. In urban cities, the poor neighbourhoods will also get affected. With the increase in global temperatures and more trees being cut down, these people will be susceptible to heat ailments as they usually do not have proper air-conditioning or ventilation in their homes or would not be willing to use it due to the high costs involved.

3. Unbalanced ability to adapt to effects

Most of the times, it is the developed countries who are significantly contributing to climate change by cutting down trees to free land for infrastructure and releasing more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. However, the effects of climate change are often faced more harshly by developing countries. These countries often lack the resources and funds to catch up with technological advancements and infrastructure, and are already stricken with the wide income gap and poverty. With most of the people relying on natural resources such as small farmer as mentioned above, climate change will take away the livelihood of people faster. Governments will also have to reallocate funds that can be used to improve the lives of its people to build infrastructure to reduce the effects of climate change. For example, funds that could potentially be used for education facilities have to now be reallocated to building sea walls or stormwater systems to adapt to climate change. Hence, the developing countries will continually struggle with adapting and improving the state of their people’s lives.

4. Displacement of people

With the rising sea levels, extreme weather and continually rising global temperatures, communities will no choice but to relocate their homes. Small island developing states (SIDS) are greatly affected by this. In 2014, villages of islands in Fiji had to move 1km inland as the rising seawater had begin to flood homes, in particular, the Vunidogoloa village. With the increased flooding and eroding coastline, more villages are expected to relocate and find homes inland. If climate change continues to flood homes or make land unusable for humans to live on, many people would eventually become refugees and this can cause overcrowding in inland or urban areas. The mass displacement of people can also potentially lead to civil unrest, and may invite military intervention and tensions between communities and countries.

Economic

1. Damage to property and infrastructure

Climate change has economical effects. It has caused billions of dollars annually due to disaster damages, real estate losses, energy-sector costs, water costs, etc. For example, sea-level floods, extreme storms and droughts have required extensive amounts of financial resources to repair important infrastructure such as homes, power lines, seawalls and bridges. This can also be a challenge for developing countries who lack financial resources. Thus, climate change poses a challenge for these people in developing countries to break out of the poverty cycle.

2. Coping costs

The cost of adapting to climate change alone has reached $22.5 billion in the developing countries, and this number is predicted to increase to $280 to $500 billion by 2050. (UNEP, 2016).

3. Lost productivity

The consequences of climate change can disrupt daily life. For example, floods and destruction of port infrastructures can harm trading. The tourism industry will also be severely affected as less people are willing to travel to areas that are harshly affected by climate change. Health-related risks caused by climate change can also reduce productivity in all sectors, especially those that rely on human manpower such as education or services.

Therefore, the lost of productivity can severely harm the world economy in the long run.

Health

According to the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, two of the most fundamental needs are physiological and safety needs. Physiological needs refer to the physical requirements for survival which need to be satisfied in order for humans to live. Physiological needs include air, water and food, in addition to clothing and shelter. On the other hand, safety needs also include physical safety which cover protection from natural disasters and abuse. The results of  the worsening climate change interfere with the fulfilment of human needs.

Droughts, floods and extreme change in weather affect the agriculture and transportation that millions of people in 34 countries – 80% of them in Africa – are currently facing famine. Additionally, droughts significantly affect the availability of safe water and the water pollution (as the pollutant concentrations in water sources increase), which possibly spread disease, while floods result in massive water contamination and diseases.

According to the United Nations, 663 million people worldwide do not have access to safe water today. (United Nations, 2016) DARA, an independent, international humanitarian aid organization, reported that the number of death caused directly by climate change has reached 400,000 deaths in 2012. Adding the number of deaths indirectly caused by climate change (diseases, starvation, dehydration, etc.), the figure is a shocking 5 million deaths annually. Furthermore, WHO (World Health Organization) estimated that the number of deaths caused by climate change will continuously increase by 250,000 deaths per year between 2030 and 2050.

Political

The effects of climate change have drastically affected the availability of natural resources. The scarcity of resources can in turn lead to countries cooperating or competing with each other.

Countries part of the Arctic includes parts of Alaska, Canada, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Russia and Sweden. These countries will be called to cooperate among themselves and with other non-Arctic countries to adjust and cope with effects of climate change on the Arctic. They will need to discuss and attract important investments to develop disaster prevention and adaptation infrastructure to mitigate the effects such as the rising sea levels and loss of habitats for arctic animals. This can cause a positive political impact in terms of stronger and more fostered global government.

However, conversely, governments of countries can also compete with each other. For example, there are potentially 56 countries where governments will struggle to adapt to climate change and this will create a risk risk of political instability, and potential violent conflicts in the future. Also, most countries do not have the resources and knowledge to handle climate change alone and will require cooperation between countries and unions.

Therefore, it is necessary for governments to carry out peacebuilding activities and address socio-economic instability. This will also strengthen the ability of communities and countries to handle climate change.

References

(Please refer to reference tab for full list of references.)

Image Reference:

2013-11-21T164358Z_1_CBRE9AK1AHD00_RTROPTP_3_CLIMATE-TALKS-NGO.JPG. (2013). 39.1 KB. 63 percent chance weather predictors are skeptics on global warming. Retrieved February 22, 2017, from http://finance.townhall.com/columnists/JohnRansom/2013/11/25/meteorologists-bail-on-global-warming-n1752592.