EGS1003: Section on International Environmental Justice and the Climate Change Challenge

EGS1003: Section on International Environmental Justice and the Climate Change Challenge Mary Lawhon ([email protected])

This work by Mary Lawhon is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

The earth has always experienced natural variability of different degrees Ice ages Extinctions

Current challenge Rate of change Potential tipping point?

http://mmazroui.kau.edu.sa/Files/0003580/Galleries/450/earth.jpg

Water resources

Agriculture

Disease

Industry, transport

Urban issues

Tourism

Biodiversity

Development and poverty alleviation

Social,

Economic,

Political and

Biophysical costs

Temperatures are very likely to increase by between 1.4 and 5.8 deg C by 2100

Sea levels are very likely to rise by between 0.1 and 0.9 m

Extreme events are very likely to increase (such as droughts and floods)

Vulnerable people will be impacted most

Mugaaju Asman, Uganda

- biophysical impacts

- socio-economic impacts

http://panda.org/about_our_earth/aboutcc/problems/people_at_risk/personal_stories/witness_stories/

http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/aboutcc/problems/people_at_risk/personal_stories/witness_stories/?200208/Nosy-Hara-Madagascar

Mitigation

Decreasing emissions

Protocols for decreasing emissions are in place

More efficient energy use is possible

Adaptation

Adaptation to climate change is possible

Humans can adapt in anticipation

Natural system can only adapt in response to change

http://panda.org/about_our_earth/aboutcc/problems/people_at_risk/personal_stories/witness_stories/

http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/aboutcc/problems/people_at_risk/personal_stories/witness_stories/?200208/Nosy-Hara-Madagascar

All web links were checked in November 2011

Acknowledgements

Some of the slide material in this presentation is from Gina Ziervogel and Bruce Hewitson.