Impacts of Climate Change

The Climate Change we will talk about in this article pertains to the change in the climate because of human-induced factors.

Even before humans, the Earth’s climate has changed throughout history. In the last 6.5 lakh years, Earth has passed through 7 ice ages. The last ice age ended approx. 7000 years ago, also marking the beginning of human civilization.

But the climate change that we are witnessing now is entirely different. The earlier changes were primarily attributed to minor variations in the Earth’s orbit, which changed the amount of solar insolation received by Earth’s atmosphere or volcanic eruptions.

The reason for the present climate change is the increase in the concentration of heat-trapping gases (or Green House Gases) in the Earth’s atmosphere due to the increase in the rate of burning of fossil fuels.

Mauna Loa Atmospheric Baseline Observatory (Hawaii) has been recording the CO2 concentration since 1958. The concentration reached dangerous levels of 415 ppm in 2019 and 420 ppm in 2023.

Many people, especially from countries like the USA, UK etc., known as Climate Sceptics, don’t accept that Global Warming and Climate Change are real. After fighting for years against denialism, scientists have now been successful in making world leaders realize that we need to act against climate change if we want to avoid the potentially huge cost to the economy and society worldwide caused by the “irreversible build-up of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and warming of the globe.”

• Glaciers have been melting rapidly due to global warming, leading to a phenomenon known as Glacier Retreat. The examples include Hindukush – Karakoram – Himalayan Glacier Retreat and Kaskawulsh Glacier Retreat (Kaskawulsh is Canada’s one of the largest glacier).
• The breakdown of Larsen C Glacier (in the Antarctic) is the result of Climate Change and Global Warming.

Impact of Glacier Retreat

• Shortage of Water: The glacier retreat can result in a water shortage in the river streams fed by the glaciers. Therefore, it will negatively impact the lives of people living in those river basins.
• River Piracy: Climate Change has resulted in the retreat of one of Canada’s largest glaciers (Kaskawulsh Glacier). It led to an incident called ‘River Piracy’ by the researchers.
  • Earlier (Before Retreat): The glacier was feeding Slims River (taking water to the Bering Sea) 
  • Now (After Retreat): The glacier feeds Alsek River (taking water to the Gulf of Alaska)
• Habitat Loss: Animals that dwell on or near glaciers may be pushed towards extinction—for example, tiny ice worms. 
• Contaminants: Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) such as PCBs (Polychlorinated Biphenyls) are transported in the air from their source to cooler areas where they condense and are deposited in glacial ice. Rapid melting has begun to release them back into the environment. For example, in some Canadian lakes, glacial meltwater is the source of 50-97% of the various POPs entering the lake. 
• Flooding: Rapid melting of glaciers can lead to flooding in rivers.  
• Sea Level Rise: Sea-level rise will affect coastal regions worldwide, causing erosion and saltwater intrusion into aquifers and freshwater habitats. 

• Island states such as Tuvalu, Mauritius etc., are on the verge of submergence.
• Kiribati  is on the verge of drowning and will become the first country to drown due to sea level rise due to climate change
• A World Bank report stated that some of these states, including the Marshall Islands and Tuvalu, may lose their status as a nation if sea levels continue to rise at this rate.

• As per the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), human-induced climate change has likely increased the frequency and intensity of extreme events since pre-industrial times, including heatwaves, extreme precipitation events, marine heatwaves, etc.
• For example, since 2020, we have seen a large number of extreme events like
  • Heatwave in Canada and parts of the USA. Temperatures in Canada have reached as high as 49.4 °C.
  • Floods in Germany, New South Wales (Australia),  Pakistan (2022) and India (2023).
  • Forest Fires in Canada and Europe (2022, 2023 and 2024) and Bushfires in Australia (2020).

• Global Warming has led to greater frequency & severity of heat waves. In 2003, for example, extreme heat waves caused more than 20,000 deaths in Europe and more than 1,500 deaths in India.
• Malaria is now being reported from countries like Bhutan for the first time.
• Climate Change has increased the spread of infectious diseases, mainly because warmer temperatures allow disease-carrying insects, animals and microbes to survive in areas where they were once blocked by cold weather.
• According to the Lancet Report, Climate Change will lead to undernutrition and obesity.  
  • Undernutrition: Global Warming will lead to lower yields, thus resulting in undernutrition. 
  • Obesity: Climate Change will reduce the production of fruits & vegetables, making them expensive and forcing people to move towards processed food (high in fats, sugars, and sodium).

Climate Change is leading to environmental degradation, food shortages, and unfair distribution of resources, likely leading to tension and conflict. The civil war in Syria has had successive droughts as one of the most important issues.

Climate Change is a security issue because

• Local Resource Competition: Due to Climate Change, pressure on local resources like water is increasing, leading to instability and violent conflict. Transboundary river water issues will become violent due to water shortage.
• Forced Migrations: World Bank Report points toward the fact that by 2050, 140 million people from South Asia & Latin America will be forced to migrate due to climate change.
• Volatile food prices heighten the risk of protest, rioting and civil conflict.
• Sea level rise and coastal degradation will lead to social disruption and disagreement over maritime boundaries (change in EEZ) and ocean resources. 

Keeping this in mind, United Nations Security Council deliberated on the impacts of climate-related disasters on international peace and security.

Women are impacted by climate change disproportionately.

1. Patriarchal norms: Socio-cultural factors like regulations on movement, childcare and elderly care responsibilities, gendered cultural codes of dress etc., limit their mobility and heighten vulnerability and exposure to climate change-related extreme weather events. 
2. Dependence on natural resources: Women increasingly rely on natural resources for their livelihood, which is threatened by climate change. E.g., 75.7% of women in rural India are engaged in agriculture (PLFS, 2019-20).
3. Public measures lack a gender equality perspective: Most policy documents lack explicit provisions for addressing the specific vulnerabilities of women across sectors.
4. Inadequate access to and control over finance and productive resources: It affects women’s contribution to climate efforts and ability to recover from climate-related disasters or loss of livelihood economically. 
5. Lack of gendered data: The scale and scope of women’s burden related to climate change are not well understood due to inadequate data. 

• Global Warming will lead to greater frequency & severity of heat waves and extreme weather events. In 2003, for example, extreme heat waves caused more than 20,000 deaths in Europe and more than 1,500 deaths in India.
• Malaria is now being reported from countries like Bhutan for the first time.
• In 2023, Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) endemic to Africa started to spread in Europe.
• Climate Change increases the spread of infectious diseases, mainly because warmer temperatures allow disease-carrying insects, animals and microbes to survive in areas once blocked by cold weather.
• Climate Change will lead to undernutrition and obesity (Lancet Report) as
  • Global Warming will lead to lower yields. 
  • Global Warming might reduce protein and other micronutrients in plants. 
  • Climate Change will reduce the production of fruits & vegetables, making them expensive and forcing people to move towards processed food, which is high in fats, sugars, and sodium.