Is Climate Change the “Defining Challenge of Our Age”?

2008

This paper starts with the question of whether climate change will require a significant reduction of consumption among the richer people in the world, and ends with the most optimistic picture the author can conjure up, of the world in the year 2075. That hopeful picture is of a world in which inequalities -among and within nations -have been substantially reduced. The challenges and adjustments confronting humanity in the coming decades provide an opportunity that could be used to mitigate climate change in ways that can improve the circumstances of the poor. Ecological reasons to reduce throughput of energy and materials in economic systems urge the abandonment of highconsumption life-styles. The 21 st century will be an era of many losses, but it is conceivable that societies will successfully make the transition from goals of economic growth, as understood in the 20 th century, to goals of maintaining and increasing sustainable well-being.

Global Journal of Public Health Medicine, 2020

Climate change has been deemed the biggest global health threat of the 21st century. Multiple factors contribute to this global phenomenon including anthropogenic causes. This review is to explore causes of climate change and recognise the impacts on population health as well as to look at strategies to mitigate climate change. This narrative review included articles searched through databases of SCOPUS, PubMed and PROQUEST from the year 2006 to 2018. Climate change is mainly due to man-made activities such as fossil fuels combustion, livestock farming and deforestation. The public health effects include increased vector-borne diseases, heat-related illnesses and respiratory illnesses. Strategies such as strengthening the adaptations to climate-related hazards, climate change integration into national policies, education, awareness-raising, impact reduction and early warnings have been put in place to tackle this crisis. The climate change agenda has been given an important platform as it is the 13 th goal of the 17 United Nations Sustainable developmental goals (SDG). In conclusion, climate change has been going on for decades and is threatening the earth. Multi sectoral collaboration and working together towards a common goal is crucial as the wellbeing of our planet is our collective responsibility.

sryahwa publications, 2019

This paper proposes some principles for urgent adaptation strategies against the impacts of climate change, which can reconfigure development and economic growth. Adaptation is building resilience and reducing vulnerability; it is not simply a matter of designing projects or putting together lists of measures to reduce the impacts of climate change. National policy responses should be anticipatory, not reactive; and should be anchored in a country’s framework for economic growth and sustainable development. They need to be integrated with its poverty reduction strategies. Poverty and climate change/adaptations are linked in low-income countries where the economy heavily depends on weather-sensitive suppliers, such as agriculture. Many poor people in developing countries are at risk of extreme weather conditions, and climate change impacts. Therefore, short-term actions and long-term planning can both be necessary to combat the effects of climate change. While national governments have a duty to take long and short-term urgent actions, international communities also have responsibilities for long-term actions. Thus, this paper discusses urgent adaptation actions (short-term) and long-term adaptation actions, separately. The results of this study shows that both natural and human system can effect on urgent actions and for each extreme event, different adaptation actions are necessary. Keywords Climate change impacts; climate change adaptation; international communities; national governments; urgent action

2008

This paper starts with the question of whether climate change will require a significant reduction of consumption among the richer people in the world, and ends with the most optimistic picture the author can conjure up, of the world in the year 2075. That hopeful picture is of a world in which inequalities – among and within nations – have been substantially reduced. The challenges and adjustments confronting humanity in the coming decades provide an opportunity that could be used to mitigate climate change in ways that can improve the circumstances of the poor. Ecological reasons to reduce throughput of energy and materials in economic systems urge the abandonment of high-consumption life-styles. The 21st century will be an era of many losses, but it is conceivable that societies will successfully make the transition from goals of economic growth, as understood in the 20th century, to goals of maintaining and increasing sustainable well-being.

Earth's Future, 2014

The development of human civilisations has occurred at a time of stable climate. This climate stability is now threatened by human activity. The rising global climate risk occurs at a decisive moment for world development. World nations are currently discussing a global development agenda consequent to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which ends in 2015. It is increasingly possible to envisage a world where absolute poverty is largely eradicated within one generation and where ambitious goals on universal access and equal opportunities for dignified lives are adopted. These grand aspirations for a world population approaching or even exceeding nine billion in 2050 is threatened by substantial global environmental risks and by rising inequality. Research shows that development gains, in both rich and poor nations, can be undermined by social, economic and ecological problems caused by human-induced global environmental change. Climate risks, and associated changes in marine and terrestrial ecosystems that regulate the resilience of the climate system, are at the forefront of these global risks. We, as citizens with a strong engagement in Earth system science and socio-ecological dynamics, share the vision of a more equitable and prosperous future for the world, yet we also see threats to this future from shifts in climate and environmental processes. Without collaborative action now, our shared Earth system may not be able to sustainably support a large proportion of humanity in the decades ahead.

Summary Several British-sponsored state-of-the-art assessments of the global impacts of climate change on various climate-sensitive threats (namely, malaria, hunger, water stress, coastal flooding, habitat loss, carbon sink capacity, and coastal wetlands) using the major scenarios developed by the IPCC indicate that through 2085 to 2100, i.e., the foreseeable future, the contribution of climate change to such threats will generally be overshadowed by non-climate change related factors. For example, under the richest-but-warmest (A1FI) scenario, which is projected to increase global temperature by 4.0°C by 2085, climate change would be responsible for only 21% of the people at risk (PAR) of hunger. Translating estimates of PAR into mortality indicates that climate change would in 2085 be responsible for 4-10% of the mortality for hunger, malaria and coastal flooding under the four major IPCC scenarios, while the net PAR of water stress could increase from 0-72%. Regarding environment...

International Journal of Environment and Climate Change

Climate change which is the variation in the climate condition over comparable periods has some indicators like surface temperature, atmospheric carbon and greenhouse gases (GHGs) and ozone layer area. This paper seeks to examine the state of the climate change indicators, their effects and how climate change can be mitigated. A review of data sources and literature reveal that global average temperature has increased more than 0.8ºC above the pre-industrial baseline over the past 100 years with 2016 and 2017 being the warmest years. Fossil carbon emissions also reached up to 41.5 billion tons in 2018. The extent of depletion of the ozone reduced to an area of 24.8x106 km2 in 2018 as against its value of 28.2 x106 km2 and 29.6 x106 km2 in 2015 and 2006 respectively. The effects of climate change on the socio-economic development were identified to include; natural disasters, food insecurity, diseases, human mobility and population displacement. To mitigate the adverse effects of cli...

Should we try to prevent global warming? Or should we use our resources to adapt to the consequences of warming? An argument for the former is that climate change will exacerbate existing problems -specifically, malaria, hunger, water shortage, coastal flooding and threats to biodiversity. This is a particular concern for developing countries, many of which are beset by these problems but lack the economic and human resources needed to obtain and implement technologies that would finesse or cope with them. This paper analyzes costs and benefits of two different approaches. One approach -mitigation -would limit carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) in the atmosphere largely by reducing emissions due to human activities. The Kyoto Protocol is an example of this approach. The second approach -adaptation -would reduce society's vulnerability to, or help cope with, the consequences of global climate change due to higher CO 2 emissions.

Revista panamericana de salud publica = Pan American journal of public health, 2016

Human activities are causing unprecedented changes in the climate, and threatening environmental processes. This may seem a simple statement, but in order to make it, a great amount of scientific information was necessary. There is overwhelming evidence of the burden of disease from environmental risks (1). This burden is expected to increase with the changing climate. Anthropogenic drivers have been detected throughout the climate system and are extremely likely to be the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century (2). This rapid changing climate poses direct human health challenges, and also indirect health effects due to disruptions and shifts in the services provided by the ecosystems (3). The "business-as-usual" approach has proven to fail to tackle those complex problems; thus, a new systemic approach is necessary, one that deals not only with those issues, but that is inclusive, universal, and that promotes health equity. The year 2015 was marked by the launching of two global agreements that set the scene for action in the next 15-20 years. The 21st Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework on Climate Change Convention (UNFCCC COP21), held in Paris, came to a final agreement which includes an ambitious commitment of keeping global warming well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels, with an aspirational target of 1.5°C (4). The "Paris Agreement" is much more than an "environmental treaty". It clearly recognizes that all aspects of human life are intrinsically connected with the environment. The document acknowledges the huge differences between the richest and developing nations regarding emissions, and on their capacity to respond to the needs for mitigation and adaptation to the effects of climate change. It provides a framework for action, but also recognizes that even with actions in place the most vulnerable populations will suffer significant impacts of climate change. Moreover, of particular interest for public health is the fact that the right to health is explicitly mentioned as an overarching concept, recognizing the opportunities for health cobenefits from mitigation actions. In the same year, world leaders had adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development along with its 17 goals and 169 targets. Later, in March 2016 it unfolded to more than 230 indicators (5). A key feature of the 2030 agenda is the integration of the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development and the interlinkages existing within and across the goals and sectors. In line with those global movements, the Special Program on Sustainable Development and Health Equity (SDE) of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) organized the symposium "Climate-smart sustainable societies: addressing public health vulnerabilities and promoting sustainable adaptation now." This meeting of SDE's network of World Health Organization Collaborating Centers of the Americas was held in September 2015, in Montreal, Canada. It aimed for the exchange of research, technologies, policies and practices in themes related to sustainable development and health equity, and to address knowledge and implementation gaps to meet PAHO's Strategic Plan 2014-2019 and to respond to the recently approved global agendas. In this context, scientific evidence is needed to inform public policies and to promote innovative health strategies. The articles included in this Special Section of the Pan American

2003