Climate change has significant implications for health.
Rising temperatures will likely lead to increased air pollution, a longer and
more intense allergy season, the spread of insect-borne diseases, more frequent
and dangerous heat waves, and heavier rainstorms and flooding. All of these
changes pose serious, and costly, risks to public health.Strong scientific
evidence shows that as temperatures increase, more rain falls during heaviest
downpours, increasing the risk of flooding events. Higher concentrations of CO2
in the atmosphere, due to the burning of fossil fuels, is making oceans both
warmer and more acidic. These two effects threaten the survival of marine life.
Corals, shellfish, and phytoplankton, which are the base of the food chain, are
particularly at risk. Climate change affects a variety of factors associated
with drought and is likely to increase drought risk in certain regions. As
temperatures have warmed, the prevalence and duration of drought has increased
in the western U.S. and climate models unanimously project increased drought in
the American Southwest.The resulting dry conditions will increase the pressure
on groundwater supplies as more is pumped to meet demand even as less
precipitation falls to replenish it.
Tens of millions of trees have died in the Rocky Mountains over the past 15
years, victims of a climate-driven triple assault of tree-killing insects,
wildfires, and stress from heat and drought.
Our aging electricity infrastructure is increasingly vulnerable to the growing
consequences of global warming, including sea level rise, heightened wildfire
risk, and other water supply issues.Spring arrives much earlier than it used to
— 10 days earlier on average in the northern hemisphere. Snow melts earlier.
Reservoirs fill too early and water needs to be released for flood control.
Vegetation and soils dry out earlier, setting the stage for longer and more
damaging wildfire seasons.
Temperatures are rising in the planet's polar regions, especially in the Arctic,
and the vast majority of the world's glaciers are melting faster than new snow
and ice can replenish them. Scientists expect the rate of melting to accelerate,
with serious implications for future sea level rise.
Rising temperatures and the accompanying impacts of global warming — including
more frequent heavier precipitation in some regions, and more severe droughts in
others — has significant implications for crop and meat production. Global
warming has the potential to seriously disrupt our food supply, drive costs
upward, and affect everything from coffee to cattle, from staple food crops to
the garden in your backyard.A changing climate affects the range of plants and
animals, changing their behavior and causing disruptions up and down the food
chain. The range of some warm-weather species will expand, while those that
depend on cooler environments will face shrinking habitats and potential
extinction.
Greenhouse gases occur naturally and are essential to the survival of humans and
millions of other living things, by keeping some of the sun’s warmth from
reflecting back into space and making Earth livable. But after more than a
century and a half of industrialization, deforestation, and large scale
agriculture, quantities of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere have risen to
record levels not seen in three million years. As populations, economies and
standards of living grow, so does the cumulative level of greenhouse gases (GHGs)
emissions.
In October 2018 the IPPCC issued a special report on the impacts of global
warming of 1.5°C, finding that limiting global warming to 1.5°C would require
rapid, far reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society, the
IPCC said in a new assessment. With clear benefits to people and natural
ecosystems, the report found that limiting global warming to 1.5°C compared to
2°C could go hand in hand with ensuring a more sustainable and equitable
society. This report also shows that many of the adverse impacts of climate
change going to appear at the 1.5°C mark.
In 1992, United Nations “Earth Summit” produced the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) as a first step in addressing the climate
change problem. The ultimate aim of the Convention is to prevent “dangerous”
human interference with the climate system and then following Kyoto Protocol in
1995.At 21st Conference of the Parties in Paris in 2015, Parties to the UNFCCC
reached a landmark agreement to combat climate change and to accelerate and
intensify the actions and investments needed for a sustainable low carbon
future. The Paris Agreement’s central aim is to strengthen the global response
to the threat of climate change by keeping the global temperature rise this
century well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to pursue
efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Pakistan is the 8th most affected country from climate change and has become a
water stressed country because her reservoirs can store water equivalent to 30
days of consumption, whereas the standard minimum requirement is 120 days. The
heatwave that took more than 1,200 lives in Karachi only two years ago has since
been visiting us with greater frequency and intensity. At 50.4oC, Nawabshah in
Sindh recorded in April 2018 the highest temperature ever recorded globally.
Floods and hydro-disasters since 2010 — when 20 million Pakistanis were directly
affected — have become an annual feature. Riverine communities routinely get
wiped away without even a mention by media. And if it is not the floods, the
calamity of drought is afflicting misery in Tharpakar and several other regions
particularly in Balochistan.
Tree plantation is the major factor to focus. As the new government of Pakistan
has promised to plant 10 billion trees during its five year tenure.World leaders
of governments, the private sector and civil society together must support the
multilateral process to accelerate climate action and ambition. The focus must
be on key sector where action can make the most difference—heavy industry,
nature-based solutions, cities, energy, resilience, climate finance and More
research and appropriate adaptation measures are required to counter the
negative impacts of climate Change.