Climate Change Making Huge Human Impact

The first comprehensive study into the human impact of climate change has revealed some scary statistics.

Climate change is already responsible for 300,000 deaths a year according to former UN secretary general Kofi Annan’s think tank, the Global Humanitarian Forum. The report also claims that a further 300 Million people a year are effected by climate change.

A warming climate means more energy. Energy that is released in events like heatwaves, forest fires and floods, making them more severe.

The Study projects that the increasing severity of events like flooding and storms will be responsible for around 500,000 deaths a year by 2030, making it the biggest humanitarian crisis the world faces. Climate change is currently causing losses of more than $125bn a year, more than the total of world aid last year. Projections say that by 2030, it could be costing up to $600bn a year.

Civil unrest may also increase because of weather-related events, the report says: “Four billion people are vulnerable now and 500m are now at extreme risk. Weather-related disasters bring hunger, disease, poverty and lost livelihoods. They pose a threat to social and political stability”.

If emissions are not brought under control, within 25 years, the report states that; 310m more people will suffer adverse health consequences related to temperature increases; 20m more people will fall into poverty and 5m extra people will be displaced by climate change. Water supplies are expected to see a severe impact. ”Shortages in future are likely to threaten food production, reduce sanitation, hinder economic development and damage ecosystems. It causes more violent swings between floods and droughts. Hundreds of millions of people are expected to become water stressed by climate change by the 2030. ”

The study says it is impossible to be certain who will be displaced by 2030, but that tens of millions of people “will be driven from their homelands by weather disasters or gradual environmental degradation. The problem is most severe in Africa, Bangladesh, Egypt, coastal zones and forest areas.”