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Topic Review
Climate Change (General Concept)
Climate change occurs when changes in Earth's climate system result in new weather patterns that remain in place for an extended period of time. This length of time can be as short as a few decades to as long as millions of years. Scientists have identified many episodes of climate change during Earth's geological history; more recently since the industrial revolution the climate has increasingly been affected by human activities driving global warming, and the terms are commonly used interchangeably in that context. The climate system receives nearly all of its energy from the sun. The climate system also gives off energy to outer space. The balance of incoming and outgoing energy, and the passage of the energy through the climate system, determines Earth's energy budget. When the incoming energy is greater than the outgoing energy, earth's energy budget is positive and the climate system is warming. If more energy goes out, the energy budget is negative and earth experiences cooling. The energy moving through Earth's climate system finds expression in weather, varying on geographic scales and time. Long-term averages and variability of weather in a region constitute the region's climate. Climate change is a long-term, sustained trend of change in climate. Such changes can be the result of "internal variability", when natural processes inherent to the various parts of the climate system alter the distribution of energy. Examples include variability in ocean basins such as the Pacific decadal oscillation and Atlantic multidecadal oscillation. Climate change can also result from external forcing, when events outside of the climate system's components nonetheless produce changes within the system. Examples include changes in solar output and volcanism. Climate change has various consequences for sea level changes, plant life, and mass extinctions; it also affects human societies.
  • 1.2K
  • 14 Apr 2023
Topic Review
Climate Change Adaptation in Greenland
Climate change adaptation is a pressing issue in Greenland. The term climate change describes long-term changes to the climate system. Since the 1950s a stark rise in global temperatures has been observed. As climate change, whether natural or anthropogenic, impacts the livelihoods of people across the globe, responses i.e. ways to prepare and adjust under changing vulnerabilities become important. Such responses are commonly discussed under the term adaptation, "the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate and its effects", as defined by the IPCC. Geographically Greenland is situated between the Arctic and the Atlantic Ocean, with one third of the island being north of the Arctic Circle. Since the middle of the 20th century, the Arctic has been warming at about twice the global rate. Rising temperatures put increasing pressure on certain plant and tree species and contribute to Greenland's melting ice sheet. This affects and changes the livelihood of the Greenlandic population, particularly the Inuit people, which make up to 80 percent of the total population. Besides the decline of fish stocks, the country's landscape is changing: the melting ice reveals minerals, oil and gas. This has attracted interest from local and foreign investors for potential resource extraction. As new industries are accompanied by new job opportunities and potential wealth, lifestyles are changing. Greenland is in transition, in terms of biophysical as well as cultural and social conditions.
  • 2.6K
  • 20 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Climate Change and Agriculture
Climate change and agriculture are interrelated processes, both of which take place on a global scale. Global warming affects agriculture in a number of ways, including through changes in average temperatures, rainfall, and climate extremes (e.g., heat waves); changes in pests and diseases; changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide and ground-level ozone concentrations; changes in the nutritional quality of some foods; and changes in sea level. Climate change is already affecting agriculture, with effects unevenly distributed across the world. Future climate change will likely negatively affect crop production in low latitude countries, while effects in northern latitudes may be positive or negative. Animal agriculture, although lesser than vehicles, is also responsible for CO2 greenhouse gas production and a percentage of the world's methane, and future land infertility, and the displacement of local species. Agriculture contributes to climate change both by anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases and by the conversion of non-agricultural land such as forests into agricultural land. In 2010, agriculture, forestry and land-use change were estimated to contribute 20–25% of global annual emissions.. In 2020, the European Union's Scientific Advice Mechanism estimated that the food system as a whole contributed 37% of total greenhouse gas emissions, and that this figure was on course to increase by 30–40% by 2050 due to population growth and dietary change. A range of policies can reduce the risk of negative climate change impacts on agriculture and greenhouse gas emissions from the agriculture sector.
  • 777
  • 15 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Climate Change and Children
Climate change has both a direct and indirect effect on children. Children are more vulnerable to the effects of climate change on humans than adults. The World Health Organization estimated that 88% of the existing global burden of disease is linked to climate change affecting children under 5 years of age. The Lancet review on health and climate change lists children as the worst-affected category by climate change. Children are physically more vulnerable to climate change in all its forms. Climate change affects the physical health of a child and his well-being. Prevailing inequalities, between and within countries, determines how climate change impacts children. Children have no voice or attention in terms of global responses to climate change. People living in low-income countries suffer from a higher burden of disease and are less capable of facing climate change threats.
  • 456
  • 19 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Climate Change and Ecosystems
Climate change has adversely affected both terrestrial and marine ecosystems, and is expected to further affect many ecosystems, including tundra, mangroves, coral reefs, and caves. Increasing global temperature, more frequent occurrence of extreme weather, and rising sea level are among some of the effects of climate change that will have the most significant impact. Some of the possible consequences of these effects include species decline and extinction, behavior change within ecosystems, increased prevalence of invasive species, a shift from forests being carbon sinks to carbon sources, ocean acidification, disruption of the water cycle, and increased occurrence of natural disasters, among others.
  • 1.1K
  • 04 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Climate Change and Gender
The effects of climate change and gender do not impact equally on men and women. This results not from biological differences due to one's sex, but from the social construction of gender roles and relations, which affect the accepted behaviors of men and women. Climate change increases gender inequality, reduces women's ability to be financially independent, and has an overall negative impact on the social and political rights of women, especially in economies that are heavily based on agriculture. In many cases, gender inequality means that women are more vulnerable to the negative effects of climate change. This is due to gender roles, particularly in the developing world, which means that women are often dependent on the natural environment for subsistence and income. By further limiting women's already constrained access to physical, social, political, and fiscal resources, climate change often burdens women more than men and can magnify existing gender inequality. Gender-based differences have also been identified in relation to awareness, causation and response to climate change, and many countries have developed and implemented gender-based climate change strategies and action plans. For example, the government of Mozambique adopted a Gender, Environment and Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan in early 2010, being the first government in the world to do so. Analysis of gender in climate change, however, is not limited to women. It also means not only applying a binary male/female system of analysis on sets of quantitative data, but also scrutinizing discursive constructions that shapes power relations connected to climate change.
  • 528
  • 10 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Climate Change and Homelessness
Although climate change is a global issue, it disproportionately affects homeless populations due to increased exposure and vulnerability associated with homelessness. Climate change is defined as "a change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is in addition to climate variability observed over comparable time periods". Homelessness can be defined as circumstances in which "an individual, family or community without stable, permanent, appropriate housing, or the immediate prospect, means and ability of acquiring it".
  • 916
  • 08 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Climate Change and Indigenous Peoples
Climate change disproportionately impacts indigenous people around the world, especially in terms of their health, environments, and communities. Indigenous people found in Africa, the Arctic, Asia, Australia, the Caribbean, Latin America, North America and the Pacific have strategies and traditional knowledge to adapt to climate change. These knowledge systems can be beneficial for their own adaptation to climate change as well as applicable to non-indigenous people.   The majority of the world’s biological, ecological, and cultural diversity is located within Indigenous territories. There are over 370 million indigenous peoples found across 90+ countries. Approximately 22% of the planet's land is comprised of indigenous territories, varying slightly depending on how indigeneity and land usage is determined. Indigenous people have the important role of the main knowledge keepers within their communities, including knowledge relating to the maintenance of social-ecological systems. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People recognizes that Indigenous people have specific knowledge, traditional practices, and cultural customs that can contribute to the proper and sustainable management of ecological resources. Indigenous Peoples have a myriad of experiences with the effects of climate change because of the varying geographical areas they inhabit across the globe and because of the differences in cultures and livelihoods. Indigenous Peoples have a wide variety of experiences that Western science is beginning to include in its research of climate change and its potential solutions. The concepts of ancestral knowledge and traditional practices are increasingly respected and considered in Western scientific research.
  • 513
  • 09 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Climate Change and Indigenous Persons
Indigenous actors have a myriad experiences because of the wildly different areas they inhabit across the globe and they bring a wide variety of experiences that Western science is beginning to include in its research of climate change and its solutions.
  • 204
  • 19 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Climate Change and Infectious Diseases
Global climate change has resulted a wide range of impacts on the spread of infectious diseases is a prominent instance due to ‘climate-sensitive’ characterization.[clarification needed] Like other climate change impacts on human health, climate change both exacerbates existing inequalities and challenges in managing infectious disease while increasing the likilihood of certain kinds of new infectious disease challenges. Documented infectious disease impacts of climate change, include increased malaria and dengue, which are expected to worsen as the global climate changes directly result in extreme weather conditions and higher temperatures. Not only will it propagate their spread, but climate change will probably bring forth new infectious diseases, and change the epidemiology of many existing diseases. Despite humanity's recent success at managing diseases such as SARS, coronavirus, and Ebola – historical data is by no means a guarantee of the future success of confrontation given that each new disease brings its own set of challenges as seen in with the ongoing pandemic regarding COVID-19. There is no direct evidence that COVID-19 is worsened or is caused by climate change.
  • 466
  • 14 Oct 2022
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