Impacts of Climate Change
- Did you know that even though climate change is a global issue, its impacts are highly localized as different people, communities, systems have different exposure, strengths, and capabilities to withstand certain changes and magnitudes of shocks that arise from climate change?
- The direct global impacts of climate change include increasing global average temperatures, erratic rainfall and snow patterns and intensities, increased prevalence of severe droughts and wildfires, floods, and storms, reduced glaciers, mountaintop snows, rising sea levels, and changing animal migration patterns.
- All these direct impacts have a related or cascading impact on specific sectors such as agriculture, education and nutritional access, water access, health and social protection, conflict management, fishery, tourism, forestry, and wildlife.
- For example, [m1] droughts in Kenya are more frequent and severe because of climate change. The prolonged droughts affect the pastoral communities because there are water shortages and inadequate pasture for the livestock. Women and children then have to walk for longer distances in search of pasture and water. More children drop out of school and are exposed to abuse and violence and more intercommunal clashes and human-wildlife conflicts occur.
- During floods, which are also made worse and more frequent by climate change, people are displaced, and livelihoods are disrupted. Critical infrastructures such as healthcare facilities, roads, toilets, and water supply are destroyed. Crops are swept away; valuable assets are lost and therefore normal life is disrupted.