Current General Studies Magazine: "General Studies - III (Climate Change)" September 2014

Current General Studies Magazine (September 2014)

General Studies - III (Environment & Bio-diversity Based Article)

Climate Change

In the atmosphere, gases such as water vapour, carbon dioxide, ozone, and methane act like the glass roof of a greenhouse by trapping heat and warming the planet. These gases are called greenhouse gases. The natural levels of these gases are being supplemented by emissions resulting from human activities, such as the burning of fossil fuels, farming activities and land-use changes. As a result, the Earth’s surface and lower atmosphere are warming, and this rise in temperature is accompanied by many other changes.

Rising levels of greenhouse gases are already changing the climate. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group I (WGI) Fourth Assessment Report, from 1850 to 2005, the average global temperature increased by about 0.76ºC and global mean sea level rose by 12 to 22 cm during the last century. These changes are affecting the entire world, from low-lying islands in the tropics to the vast polar regions.

Climate change predictions are not encouraging; according to the IPCC WGI Fourth Assessment Report, a further increase in temperatures of 1.4°C to 5.8°C by 2100 is projected. Predicted impacts associated with such temperature increase include: a further rise in global mean sea level, changes in precipitation patterns, and more people at risk from dangerous “vector-borne diseases” such as malaria.

Vulnerability of biodiversity to the impacts of climate change

The present global biota has been affected by fluctuating Pleistocene (last 1.8 million years) concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide, temperature, precipitation, and has coped through evolutionary changes, and the adoption of natural adaptive strategies. Such climate changes, however, occurred over an extended period of time in a landscape that was not as fragmented as it is today and with little or no additional pressure from human activities. Habitat fragmentation has confined many species to relatively small areas within their previous ranges, resulting in reduced genetic variability. Warming beyond the ceiling of temperatures reached during the Pleistocene will stress ecosystems and their biodiversity far beyond the levels imposed by the global climatic change that occurred in the recent evolutionary past.

Current rates and magnitude of species extinction far exceed normal background rates. Human activities have already resulted in the loss of biodiversity and thus may have affected goods and services crucial for human well-being. The rate and magnitude of climate change induced by increased greenhouse gases emissions has and will continue to affect biodiversity either directly or in combination with other drivers of change.

Links between biodiversity and climate change

There is ample evidence that climate change affects biodiversity. According to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, climate change is likely to become one of the most significant drivers of biodiversity loss by the end of the century. Climate change is already forcing biodiversity to adapt either through shifting habitat, changing life cycles, or the development of new physical traits.

Conserving natural terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems and restoring degraded ecosystems (including their genetic and species diversity) is essential for the overall goals of both the Convention on Biological Diversity and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change because ecosystems play a key role in the global carbon cycle and in adapting to climate change, while also providing a wide range of ecosystem services that are essential for human well-being and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.

Biodiversity can support efforts to reduce the negative effects of climate change. Conserved or restored habitats can remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, thus helping to address climate change by storing carbon (for example, reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation). Moreover, conserving in-tact ecosystems, such as mangroves, for example, can help reduce the disastrous impacts of climate change such as flooding and storm surges.

Ecosystem-based Adaptation

Ecosystem-based adaptation, which integrates the use of biodiversity and ecosystem services into an overall adaptation strategy, can be cost-effective and generate social, economic and cultural co-benefits and contribute to the conservation of biodiversity.

Conservation and management strategies that maintain and restore biodiversity can be expected to reduce some of the negative impacts from climate change; however, there are rates and magnitude of climate change for which natural adaptation will become increasingly difficult. Options to increase the adaptive capacity of species and ecosystems in the face of accelerating climate change include:

Reducing non-climatic stresses, such as pollution, over-exploitation, habitat loss and fragmentation and invasive alien species.
Wider adoption of conservation and sustainable use practices including through the strengthening of protected area networks.
Facilitating adaptive management through strengthening monitoring and evaluation systems.

Ecosystem-based adaptation uses biodiversity and ecosystem services in an overall adaptation strategy. It includes the sustainable management, conservation and restoration of ecosystems to provide services that help people adapt to the adverse effects of climate change. Examples of ecosystem-based adaptation activities include:

Coastal defence through the maintenance and/or restoration of mangroves and other coastal wetlands to reduce coastal flooding and coastal erosion.
Sustainable management of upland wetlands and floodplains for maintenance of water flow and quality.
Conservation and restoration of forests to stabilize land slopes and regulate water flows.
Establishment of diverse agroforestry systems to cope with increased risk from changed climatic conditions.
Conservation of agrobiodiversity to provide specific gene pools for crop and livestock adaptation to climate change.