Symptoms of Global Warming Cropping Up Across the Globe

Global warming is already impacting countries across the globe, from Brazil to Bangladesh, wreaking havoc on the environment and putting millions of people at risk of extreme poverty. It’s the poor countries that are seeing the most dramatic effects thus far, and they’re in desperate need of resources, technology and money to adapt their economies to climate change and preserve their ecosystems.

From The Guardian:

North-east Brazil has always known droughts, but they are becoming longer and more frequent, say scientists and farmers. “Climate change is biting. It is much hotter than it used to be and it stays hotter for longer. The rain has become more sporadic. It comes at different times of the year now and farmers cannot tell when to plant,” says Lindon Carlos, an agronomist with Brazilian group Acev.

On the other side of the world, the changing climate is wreaking havoc in a different way on low-lying and populous Bangladesh. There, government meteorologists this year reported a 10% increase in intensity and frequency in major cyclones hitting the country – two of the most powerful cyclones ever recorded have hit the country in the last three years.

The balmy Caribbean is also being churned up with increasing frequency and ferocity. This year, the region experienced eight hurricanes and five major hurricanes, the second highest ever, and the hurricane season lasted a record five months.

Across the Atlantic, in Africa, the theme unfolds further: climate change turning already bad situations in poor countries into potential catastrophe, and driving people to absolute poverty. Alexandre Tique, at Mozambique’s national meteorological institute, says: “Analysis of the temperature data gathered in our provincial capitals, where we have meteorological stations that have kept continuous data over the years, shows a clear increase in temperature. Extreme events are becoming more frequent. We now see many more tropical cyclones that bring flooding, destruction and loss of lives.”

Right now, at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Poznan, Poland – which we’ve been covering extensively here on EarthFirst – representatives of developing nations are arguing that rich countries should help them pay to adapt to climate change, especially since they are experiencing effects of something they didn’t even cause.

Because of the worldwide recession, analysts predict that rich countries will resist paying more than what they’ve already contributed to aid funds. But since the money to help poor countries with climate change adaptation is coming straight out of existing aid funds, that means every dollar used for climate change effects takes away from money those countries need for things like health and education.

What a mess. Total lack of foresight during the rapid development and industrialization of the 20th century is largely the cause of this problem, and it amazes me that some people still believe that we can continue doing the same things – burning dirty coal, driving in millions of dirty automobiles, destroying forests at alarming rates.

Link [The Guardian]
Photo credit: Greenpeace

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