An open access special issue of the International Journal of Global Warming brings together case studies discussing evidence of the often-devastating effects of climate change on several regions of the developing world in recent years. Koko Warner and Kees van der Geest of the Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS), of the United Nations University, in Bonn, Germany, provide perspective on the nine research papers all of which are available free of charge.
Warner and van der Geest discuss the loss and damage caused by climate change and its impact on people at the local-level based on evidence from research teams working in nine vulnerable countries: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Gambia, Kenya, Micronesia, Mozambique and Nepal. The research papers pool data and survey results from more than 100 focus groups involving 3269 people.
“The research reveals four loss and damage pathways. Residual impacts of climate stressors occur when: 1) existing coping/adaptation to biophysical impact is not enough; 2) measures have costs (including non-economic) that cannot be regained; 3) despite short-term merits, measures have negative effects in the longer term; or 4) no measures are adopted – or possible – at all,” Warner and van der Geest explain.
The issues that have arisen through this research point to an even greater urgency for efforts to reduce carbon emissions and slow the increase in average global temperatures. Policies must also be implemented to address some of the effects of climate change and attempt to restore damaged environments and societies. There is also a need to increase resilience in communities and parts of the world that are most vulnerable to the effects of climate change triggered by their being at the environmental extremes. There is also the pressing issue of what to do about regions that have been devastated by climate change irreversibly and how to help the environmental refugees in those parts of the world.
People have tried to implement preventive measures but these have often been insufficient, moreover coping strategies when things failed, were overwhelmed by extreme events such as floods or droughts while adaptation costs were not simply monetary but also arise in terms of time investment, social-cohesion and livelihood security.
In the interests of enhancing global discussions of critical and urgent issues arising from climate change now, the research papers are being made available by Inderscience Publishers free of charge to all readers at the following link: