Climate Change Inequality

Climate Change is a reality that continues to ascend globally, spreading and affecting the poorest countries due to their economic disadvantage.

I live in Nicaragua, second poorest Latin American country, hence I am used to seeing poverty all round, however, recently in 2020, two hurricanes, IOTA and ETA, hit the Caribbean and Northern areas of Nicaragua. These two aggressive hurricanes left severe damage to indigenous communities, flooding in rural areas and deaths in Central America. The natural phenomenons came at cost of the overwhelming ascend in global warming, caused by the green house gasses emission increase over the past decade.

With that in mind, who do you think it’s responsible for the increase in climate change? Why do poor countries take the damage when their contribution to green house gasses is mininum? What countries release most carbon dioxide into the atmosphere?

Now on the specifics

As the global atmosphere moves forward in an environment of industrialization, developing countries in Latin America recover from the catastrophic, impacts of climate inequality, leaving rural regions wrecked from the collateral damages of global warming. Climate change inequality resides in the nature of the gap between the economic output of the world's richest and poorest countries. Earth climate has been a factor of change for the past 650,000 years; however, according to NASA, the current warming trend owes 95% of responsibility to human activity since the mid 20th century and continuing an exuberant rate that is "unprecedented over decades to millennia".Nasa has also proven the hear-trapping nature of carbon dioxide that has demonstrated to escalate after mid 19th century, overall causing a warmth increase on earth as a response of the greenhouse gases. Henceforth, the importance of climate change has shown the acute effects on earth while demonstrating the blame industrial corporate countries, the health damages caused by hurricane growth, and consequences.

It comes as no surprise that countries within central America are the smaller contributors to climate change, climate change has increased the economic gap amongst the wealthiest and most impoverished countries, augmenting a 25%, which would not have existed nowadays without global warming (Stanford Earth, 2019). Climate change occurs due to greenhouse gasses, known as the presence of carbon emissions.

According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, by August of 2020, nearly 50% of the world's carbon emissions were produced by China, the United States, and India: 20%, 15%, and 7%, respectively.

This same article also accounts that developed nations have high carbon emissions per capita, given the industrialized ratio of corporate companies, leading to a considerable contribution to the climate crisis. Additionally, a study co-authored by Stanford assistant professor, Marshall Burke, shows that global warming from 1961 to 2010 "decreased the wealth per person in the world's poorest countries by 17 to 30 percent." (Stanford earth, 2019).

"The disadvantaged groups are more susceptible to climate damages in part because of the lack of diversification of their assets." (UN paper No. 152, page 15)

The high temperatures and ongoing climate change caused by carbon emissions have affected health within developing countries in rural areas. According to a United Nation report on climate change and social inequity, people who live in poverty and under scarce conditions are more susceptible to the disease that many climate hazards help spread, including malaria and water-borne diseases that cause diarrhea. Underdeveloped countries have less access to proper healthcare, clean water, and adequate medication.

For example, some rural areas do not possess clean water from piped resources, leading to a reliance on steam water, which by flood may contain pathogens. A recent report revealed a greater incidence of diseases among residents in low-income areas in Mumbai due to the floods (Hallegtte et al., 2016, United Nation).

Given the higher risk of health compromises in low places, this directly undermines their income and asset position within poverty sites, impacting their lives in the long and short run.

The long-run can be seen by the loss of human capital, the time spent being sick, chronic conditions development, and the future morbidity and mortality rate. Short-run are all the effects of being ill and the direct loss of money in the attempt to revert it. (Climate change and Social Inequity, UN)

Climate change inequality is real and impacts millions of lives that are not accountable for the increased global warming during the last century, leaving families stranded with poor health conditions and constant fear of the next alteration.

Despite the current urgency of climate inequality, several people believe that there is no such rising issue. Climate change has become a controversial issue over the past years, in which politicians in rich countries are forced to face the debate of economy versus climate equality. Arguments such as that earth's climate are continually changing; renewable energy is just a money-making scheme. Global warming has an equal distribution of consequences worldwide are arguments caused by the lack of proper information. The reason behind millions of people who do not understand or choose to ignore the gravity of climate inequality is at the governments' hands. Developed countries have not made an honest attempt to reveal the concerning distributions of wealth attributed to climate change with transparent background. Renewable energy has been proven to be the cheapest way of generating electricity. Climate change has left an impact on Latin American areas by increasing hurricanes in the year 2020. By the end of last year, two hurricanes, Iota and Eta, wreaked countries in Central America. Despite the lack of coverage, it came to the notion that almost 100 people in Guatemala were buried in rain-fueled sites. Additionally, Nicaragua's government shelters were quickly filled with hundreds of people in the northern regions.

In Honduras, thousands were left without food or water since everything was "buried in mud," said Marvin Argueta, a victim of climate inequality. Hurricane Iota created widespread flooding, which put at risk around 300,000 people across these regions.

Climate change has caused natural disasters that affect poor areas that have no guilt in hand than developed countries.

It has been proven that climate change inequality is a direct repercussion of industrialized nations who take advantage of their wealthy positions and continue to release catastrophic carbon emissions that have a significant correlation in the social inequality in poor regions.

Climate change has been proven due to the carbon dioxide emitted by human activity, increasing at 250% compared to natural resources after the last Ice Age. (NASA)

This has led to increased harm for the disadvantaged, such as health repercussions both long and short term, natural fatalities, and an increase in the economic gap between the richest and poorest countries. Despite the arguments attempted to misattribute the validity of climate change inequality, it is clear that this catastrophic reality will continue to grow and is now one of the most pertinent social issues that affect humanity on a global scale.

References:

10 myths about climate change. (n.d.). Retrieved January 31, 2021, from https://www.wwf.org.uk/updates/10-myths-about-climate-change

Each Country's Share of CO2 Emissions. (2020, August 12). Retrieved January 31, 2021, from https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/each-countrys-share-co2-emissions

Erns, J. (2021, January 22). Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet. Retrieved January 31, 2021, from https://climate.nasa.gov/evidence.amp

Ernst, J. (2020, November 11). 'Everything buried in mud': Hurricane Eta's devastating blow to Honduras. Retrieved January 31, 2021, from https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/nov/11/everything-buried-in-mud-hurricane-etas-devastating-blow-to-honduras

Islam, S. N., & Winkel, J. (2017). Climate Change and Social Inequality* (pp. 1-32, Rep. No. 152). New York, New York: United Nations.

J. G. (2019, April). Climate change has worsened global economic inequality. Retrieved January 31, 2021, from https://earth.stanford.edu/news/climate-change-has-worsened-global-economic-inequality#gs.s740o5

Piketty, P. (2020, January 13). After the climate denial, the inequality denial. Retrieved January 31, 2021, from https://www.lemonde.fr/blog/piketty/2020/01/14/after-the-denial-of-climate-change-the-inequality-denial/