Student: Kyle Tibbett
Graduation date: May 2015
Type: Concentration (single major)
Date approved: November 2012
Summary
Climate change is a global phenomenon, however each region will be affected by climate change in its own unique way depending on its current climate, political system, and socio-economic conditions. Many of these climatic changes will include flooding, drought, and changes in conventional temperature and precipitation patterns, as “A recent IPCC report predicts that climate change over the next century will affect rainfall patterns, river flows and sea levels all over the world. For many parts of the arid (and semi-arid) regions there is an expected precipitation decrease over the next century of 20% or more.” (IPCC 2007). Also, “Drying in the interior of continents in the northern middle latitudes combined with warming would be expected to lead to negative crop and livestock yields…” (Tobey et. Al 1992). Because projected changes will likely be more severe in arid and semi-arid regions, stress on agricultural production will increase in these regions that are already dry and rely on annual precipitation patterns. For example, Author PJ Blackwell states that “In the Greater Horn of Africa (GHA), climate change is influencing the intensity and frequency of drought at an unprecedented rate, thus negatively impacting food security for millions of people.” (Blackwell 2010). While the physical changes in climate appear to be similar for semi-arid regions worldwide (Roshan and Grab 2012), projected impacts are more devastating in countries that are developing. So, although it is true that many regions in the global South are susceptible to climate change because of their arid and semi-arid climates, I would argue that many developed nations are also located in regions with extremely comparable climates. Ultimately, weak political and economic infrastructures can diminish a countries ability to adapt to the impacts of climate change. Many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa do not have the economic resources to implement innovations and technologies such as GMO’s and pesticides, as adaptation capacity is weakened by the region’s insecurity and lack of Infrastructure (Speranza 2010). This is a problem because many rely on agricultural production for subsistence, so reduced agricultural yields can lead to malnutrition and in some cases, starvation. Essentially, these countries are constrained by a lack of democracy combined with the mismanagement of economic resources that creates conditions favorable for corruption (Prashad 2012). This can be attributed to the woeful legacy that many colonial economies established in now developing worlds, as power hungry dictators combine forces with modern neo-liberals in order to keep the voices and desires of the impoverished suppressed, and by doing this, those few in power have the ability to extrapolate local resources and use them to further solidify their own power.
Seeing as the impacts of climate change will be more severe in developing countries, it is now important to look at some methods of adaptation that they will employ and compare them with other nations in similar climates. “The hardships of climate change that environmentalists warn of have already arrived in the poorest and least developed regions of Uganda. Three out of the past four years have seen poor or no harvests in Karamoja. But in addition to starving the region agriculturally, climate change is also exacerbating violence in the region. As UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said in 2007, ‘changes in our environment and the resulting upheavals- from droughts to inundated coastal areas to loss of arable lands – are likely to become a major driver of war and conflict’” (Edwards 2011). Because Uganda lacks the political and economic infrastructures to humanely adapt to the impacts of climate change, they must react by reverting to violence and theft. Australia(which is also located in either an arid or semi-arid climate), as a comparison, houses structured governments that take action in cooperation with their people in order to reduce the negative effects of climate change. For example, Australia’s Department of Climate Change states that the Australian Government does the following in order to combat the negativei mpacts of climate change; “the Australian Government’s role in adaptation includes building community resilience and establishing the right conditions for people to adapt; taking climate change into account in the management of Commonwealth assets and programs; providing sound scientific information; and leading national reform.” (Australian Department of Climate Change 2010). Australia did not experience the same colonial regimes as Uganda, and ebcause of this their political and economic infrastructures lack the corruption that hinders successful and humane adaptation in Uganda, and they are even able to sum up as much as $126 million in order to combat climate change (Australian Department of Climate Change 2010). Overall, people of developing countries adapt much differently to climate change than those of developed countries do, as they can only do what their political and economic infrastructures will allow with their resources.The biggest issues in these developing countries that experience severe negative impacts of climate change seems to be a lack of political and economic infrastructure that stems from expanding imperialistic regimes.
References
Blackwell, PJ. 2010. “East Africa’s Pastoralist Emergency: is climate change the straw that breaks the camel’s back?” Third World Quarterly 31 (8) (December): 1321-1338. Doi:10.1080/01436597.2010.
CED. 2010. “The Semi-Srid Region.” CED. The Semi-Arid Region: 1–10.
Edwards, Jocelyn T. 2011. “Climate Change Fuels Violence as Hunger Drives Cattle Poaching in East Africa.” Ecologist 40 (25) (July): 6–8.
Department of Climate Change. jurisdiction=Commonwealth of Australia; corporateName=Department of Climate. 2013. “Adapting to Climate Change.” Accessed January 21. http://www.climatechange.gov.au/government/adapt.aspx
Ifejika Speranza, Chinwe. 2010. “Drought Coping and Adaptation Strategies: Understanding Adaptations to Climate Change in Agro-pastoral Livestock Production in Makueni District, Kenya.” European Journal of Development Research 22 (5) (December): 623–642. doi:10.1057/ejdr.2010.39.
IPCC. 2007. “Climate Change 2007: Working Group II: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability.” IPCC 9.4.4. Agriculture. https://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/ar4/wg2/en/ch9s9-4-4.html.
Mollah, Swati. 2012. “Flood Control Policies in India: How Far Are We?” Golden Research Thoughts 2 (1): 1–10.
Prashad, Vijay. 2012. The Poorer Nations. Brooklyn, NY: Verso.
Roshan, Gh.R., and S. W. Grab. 2012. “Regional Climate Change Scenarios and Their Impacts on Water Requirements for Wheat Production in Iran.” International Journal of Plant Production 6 (2) (April): 239–265. a9h.
Tobey, James, John Reilly, and Sally Kane. 1992. “Economic Implications of Global Climate Change for World Agriculture.” Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics 17 (1) (July 1): 195–204. doi:10.2307/40986751.
Questions
- What are the predicted changes in climate in semi-arid countries? What local effects of climate change are expected in East Africa? Australia? Do these effects differ from non semi-arid countries?
- Why might people in developing countries (such as Uganda) react and adapt differently to climate change than developed countries? How does technology and innovation play a role in determining what these different adaptations might be?
- How does the socio-economic standing of each country contribute to how susceptible they are to the differing effects of climate change? Where does this socio-economic standing originate from?
Concentration courses
- GEOL 170 (Climate Science, 5 credits), spring 2013. This class would talk about different effects of climate change, which would greatly aid me in learning more about my concentration.
- SOAN 350 (Global Inequality, 4 credits), spring 2014. This class explores, in depth, the drivers for global inequality, which would directly benefit my concentration as I am interested in figuring out why these developing regions seem to be more susceptible to the impacts of climate change.
- HIST 298-F2 (Environmental Hist Sci & Tech, 4 credits), spring 2013. This class would be helpful to me because it explores the history of environmental technology, and technology is a possible means of adaptation to climate change for certain countries (possibly East Africa, although they might lack the technology needed to make this adaptation).
- ENVS 499 (Independent Study, 1-4 credits). This will consist of large amounts of literature review with Jessica Kleiss. This literature review will ultimately help me in solidifying the scope of my concentration, and I will aim to acquire a plethora of background information for East Africa.
- HIST-398-04 (Empire & Intn'l Dev in Africa), Spring 2015. This class would benefit my concentration because the developing region I have put most of my effort into is the region of East Africa, so looking at the development of the region would likely be beneficial to my concentration.
Arts and humanities courses
- HIST 261 (Global Environmental History, 4 credits). Pre-approved A&H course; no justification required.
- PHIL 215 (Philosophy and the Environment, 4 credits). Pre-approved A&H course; no justification required.