Climate Change and Developing Countries

Introduction:

• Climate change refers to a change in the state of the climate that can be identified (e.g. using statistical tests) by changes in the mean and/or the variability of its properties and that persists for an extended period, typically decades or longer. (IPCC)
• A country is said to be developing if it has less developed industrial base and low Human development index (HDI); low literacy rate, life expectancy and low income, when compared to other countries.
• Some examples of developing countries are Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Nepal, Rwanda, Africa, Ghana, Niger, Zambia, Nigeria, Zimbabwe etc.

Why developing countries are more vulnerable to climate change?

• Climate change is universal. Impact of climate change is same in all part of the Earth but when it comes down to being vulnerable and suffering then, it’s the developing countries that suffer the most devastation due to climate change.
• So the question remains, why developing countries are more vulnerable then? Answer to this question is, developing country are weaker socially, financially and economically than developed countries. They have limited resources to fight against the effect of global climate change.
• Similarly, developing countries are still dependent on traditional activities for living. Most people depend upon agriculture, livestock rearing, fishing; change in climate such as droughts, floods can have significant effect on livelihood of people.

For example: Netherland (developed country) and Bangladesh (developing country)

Both countries are low lying and equally susceptible to flood. Netherland invest more money on engineering that will ensure the safety of their people and industry and may suffer less damage. While on the other hand, Bangladesh is not able to invest large sum of money in engineering technology and will suffer more devastation and millions of death. This means if same magnitude of flood strikes both countries Bangladesh will be more vulnerable.

Effect of climate change in developing countries

• Health
• Social Health
• Economy
• Political
• Biodiversity
• Culture
• Weather

Effect on Health

• According to WHO, each year:
  • Under nutrition kills 3.5 million..
  • Diarrhea kills 2.2 million
  • Malaria kills 900,000
  • Extreme weather events kill 60,000

• Prolonged intense heat waves coupled with humidity may increase mortality and morbidity rates, particularly among the urban poor and the elderly.
• Increased death and injury from extreme weather events such as flooding, landslides, and storms – over 96 percent of disaster-related deaths in recent years have taken place in developing countries (World Bank 2001).
• Changes in temperature and rainfall pattern may change the geographic range of vector-borne diseases such as malaria and dengue fever, exposing new populations to these diseases.
• Climate change–induced droughts, flooding and other extreme weather events, degrade and reduce potable water supplies and increase water-associated diseases such as cholera and diarrhea, particularly in areas with inadequate sanitary infrastructures.
• Inadequate access to safe drinking water and sanitation, combined with poor hygiene practices, are major causes of ill health and life-threatening disease in developing countries.
• At present, these diseases already kill an estimated 2.213 million people per year in developing countries, of which about 90 percent are children under the age of five (Prüss et al. 2002).

Pathways by which climate change affects human health, including local modulating influences and the feedback influence of adaptation measures:

Effect on Social Health

Effect of climate change on Economy

• Climate change is likely to have adverse effect on the economy of developing and poorer countries.
• The damage brought by disaster due to climate change; costs falls onto the hand of government/ authorities in power of the country. For the sake of people, large sum of money which could be used for infrastructure development will be used for healthcare and clear up operations.
• Revenue reductions may also be experienced by countries heavily dependent on tourism.
• Also, developing countries may remain in constant phase of reconstruction.
• According to a survey, it is found that India relies on the monsoon cycle to water crops and maintain its “nearly $370 billion agricultural sector and hundreds of millions of jobs.” Since, Indian Ocean has warmed; the monsoon cycle has become unreliable, resulting in massive droughts and dying crops.
• In a report in 2006 Nicholas (now Lord) Stern calculated that a 2°C rise in global temperature cost about 1% of world GDP. But the World Bank, in its new World Development Report (2010), now says the cost to Africa will be about 4% of GDP and to India, 5%. Even if environmental costs were distributed equally to every person on earth, developing countries would still bear 80% of the burden.

Political effect and Climate change

• Politics involves making decisions that govern other people’s lives.
• Many politicians. Scientists have different views on climate change issue. Some belief that climate change is a natural phenomenon and human have no or little influence and similarly other group believe that human have key impact in climate change. As a result, it may result in conflict.
• Sea level is rising and as a result many islands are already under water e.g.: Maldives. This may also have economic and political consequence of the country.
• Decreasing water and natural resources can cause migration, wars, social unrest, and political instability.

Effect on biodiversity

• It is found that, Mangroves and coral reefs, the main coastal ecosystems in Africa, will probably be affected. Endangered species such as manatees and marine turtles, as well as migratory birds, will face higher risk of extinction.
• The Polar Regions are already affected by rising temperatures. Diminishing ice for the region has brought polar bears, penguins, puffins and other Arctic creatures in the verge of extinction.
• It is said that with one meter rise in sea level, many Asian species, such as Bengal tigers, Indian otters, estuarine crocodiles and mud crabs, will be at risk of extinction.
• Forest fires may also increase in number. In Nepal, forest fires due to unseasonably high temperatures will threaten the existence of species such as red pandas, leopards, monkeys and other wild animals.
• Rising sea levels will also cause changes to sea temperature. Such changes would have a strong impact on zooplankton, an essential part of the food chain in the ocean. Whales especially could be affected as many species require mass amounts of plankton to survive.
• In addition, increased carbon dioxide causes acidification of the ocean, affecting creatures and plants that are sensitive to pH imbalances.

Effect on weather

• Global warming is increasing the frequency and intensity of some types of extreme weather.
• Wet places have generally become wetter, while dry places have become drier. Heat waves have become more frequent and intense, while very cold days have decreased.
• The changing, unpredictable and erratic rainfall seasons in Kenya have affected farmers’ ability to plan their farming. Areas that used to receive adequate rainfall now receive insufficient rainfall, reducing the area of land that can support agriculture. (Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR))
• Unprecedented heat in the summer of 2003 caused an estimated 70,000 premature deaths in Europe. Temperatures that summer in parts of Europe were 5-10°C (9-18°F) higher than in 2001. (NASA)

Effect on culture

• Culture, from an anthropological perspective, encompasses all learned and shared aspects of life in human societies. (Wiley Online Library)
• Food culture is different around the world. For example, Asian civilizations were traditionally based on rice; Meso-American on maize; the Inca (Peru) on potatoes and European on wheat and other cereals. As climate changes, cultural food pattern also changes around world.
• Climate change can have effect on human culture will occur through the modification of agricultural practices.
• Cultural effects of global warming flow from:
  • agricultural decline (change in food culture)
  • generation of environmental refugees; (Leave their inhabitant place and migrate to some another country, leaving their accepted culture behind and may be forced to accept new culture for adaptation)
  • Disruption of cultural continuity (increased in death rate from infectious disease, mental disorder, malnutrition etc)

Efforts to reduce climate change

• SDG: Goal 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts. (Improve education, awareness-raising and human and institutional capacity, mobilizing jointly $100 billion annually by 2020 from all sources to address the needs of developing countries in the context of meaningful mitigation actions)
• To address climate change, countries adopted the Paris Agreement on 12 December 2015. The Agreement entered into force shortly thereafter, on 4 November 2016. In the agreement, all countries agreed to work to limit global temperature rise to well below 2 degrees Celsius, and given the grave risks, to strive for 1.5 degrees Celsius.
• China has dramatically reduced its emissions growth rate, now just half its economic growth rate, through slower population growth, energy efficiency improvements, fuel switching from coal to natural gas, and afforestation.
• India’s growth in energy-related carbon dioxide emissions was reduced over the last decade through economic restructuring, enforcement of existing clean air laws by the nation’s highest court, and renewable energy programs
• Mexico has begun to reduce deforestation rates, switch to natural gas, and save energy, reducing annual emissions growth over the last decade by 5 percent, or 10 million tons of carbon per year
• Similarly, beside these, many countries, national, international, governmental, non-governmental organizations are putting their effort to reduce the impact and cause of global warming. Also, different conferences are holding recognizing the cause and taking out essential solution for reducing the cause of climate change.

References and for more information:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tom-osborn/why-developing-countries-_b_6511346.html

https://skepticalscience.com/Those-who-contribute-the-least-greenhouse-gases-will-be-most-impacted-by-climate-change.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rosaly-byrd/climate-change-is-a-socia_b_5939186.html

http://www.iccgov.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/19_ICCG_Reflection_February_2014.pdf

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2013/sep/27/climate-change-poor-countries-ipcc

http://www.economist.com/node/14447171

http://sciencing.com/climate-change-affect-biodiversity-23158.html

http://theconversation.com/why-hotter-weather-is-likely-to-affect-people-in-developing-countries-more-48898

https://www.eolss.net/Sample-Chapters/C12/E1-04-03-03.pdf

https://www.greenfacts.org/en/arctic-climate-change/l-2/7-effects-on-people.htm

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http://www.ipcc.ch/ipccreports/tar/wg2/index.php?idp=674

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http://www.climatechangenunavut.ca/en/understanding-climate-change/climate-change-impact

http://www.who.int/globalchange/publications/climchange.pdf

https://unfccc.int/files/adaptation/sbi_agenda_item_adaptation/application/pdf/who.pdf

https://www.cgdev.org/topics/climate-change

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/wcc.181/abstract

https://www.c2es.org/docUploads/dev_mitigation.pdf

http://newsroom.unfccc.int/unfccc-newsroom/developing-countries-need-urgent-support-to-adapt-to-climate-change/

https://futureoflife.org/2016/08/05/developing-countries-cant-afford-climate-change/

Author of this article: Ms. Rojina Tandukar. Ms. Tandukar is pursuing her Bachelor’s degree in Public Health from a reputed University.