Human Impacts of Global Warming | Low Carbon Network

Human activity such as burning coal and oil releasing high concentrations of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere does contribute to global warming. However, there are also natural contributors to climate change such as solar activity, changes in Earth’s orbit, volcanic activity and other natural climate variability. Climate change occurs with or without human activity.

According to the Global Humanitarian Forum, there are several complex and interconnected human impacts that can lead to migrations:
• Health-Climate changes have created new habitats for disease vectors and heat waves can cause illness.
• Food Security-Changing climates can adversely impact food production and result in malnutrition.
• Poverty-Many people in developing countries rely on natural resources for income (tourism, farmers and fishermen).
• Water-When water is either too scarce (drought) or too abundant (flooding) it can create an uninhabitable environment.
• Security-Migrations often cause populations with differing cultural practices to come into close contact. Battles over dwindling resources can also create conflicts.
Several nations have experienced a combination of these impacts. For example, Bangladesh is the world’s most vulnerable nation to tropical cyclones; they are also vulnerable to sea level rise, as 80% of their land is subject to flooding. In addition, the country has suffered from a loss of agricultural production. The result is an increase of migrations from rural areas (the majority of their land) to already crowded urban centers.
In Nigeria, 1,350 square miles of land have turned to desert every year. Farmers have been slowly migrating towards coastal areas. In the South Pacific, the island nation of Tuvalo has negotiated a migration agreement with neighboring New Zealand, already noting the economic impacts of rising sea levels.
The population of the Panamanian island of Carti Sugdub, suffering from flooding that often comes to their knees, is preparing to move inland. The government has no clear plan for this move, which can cost millions of dollars. It would move these indigenous people from their coastal homeland into the forest.
Global Warming and Environmental Inequities: Poorer Countries Contribute the Least
The 50 least developing nations contribute 1% of the world’s carbon emissions. They are the most vulnerable to human impacts and the least able to prepare and recover from changing climates and natural disasters. Globally, 40% of the world lives on $2 or less a day. Many communities in developing nations lack adequate infrastructure to mitigate natural disasters. They also lack the basic health and property insurances that citizens in developed countries take for granted.
Perhaps this is why developed nations have been slow to create policy changes around climate change. The climate refugee crisis is often a problem that happens off of the radar of mainstream media outlets. Those most impacted are often too busy trying to adapt and survive in hostile environments to politically mobilize.
Looking to the United Nations for Climate Refugee Protections
In 2009, a United Nations resolution L30 formally recognized that climate change can negatively impact human rights and that the world’s most vulnerable countries are most at risk for the human impacts of climate change. Many impacted nations would like to see the term climate refugee incorporated into the 1951 UN Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. This would provide protection to these individuals under international law.
As the impacts of global warming and climate change take form, the issue of climate refugees will move further into the forefront. These displaced populations are a real-life look at the impacts of global warming and resulting climate changes. More international support will be needed, and countries contributing to greenhouse gas emissions need to take swift action to prevent further damage.