The Politics of Climate Change

“We are among the ‘Top 10 Most-Vulnerable-Island-Nation States’ in the world. And the question I have for my colleagues today is: are we brave enough for this moment? Are we braver than our predecessors who led our nations at the previous 25 climate change meetings? Can we summon the courage and ingenuity and determination to succeed, where they did not? Promises and agreements are easy. Action – specific and concrete policy changes – is a lot harder….We in The Bahamas will do what we can, but the limits of what our nation’s effort can accomplish are stark: we cannot out-run your carbon emissions, we cannot out-run the hurricanes which are growing more powerful and we cannot out-run rising sea levels, as our islands disappear beneath the seas. Action requires courage. Every leader before us has postponed until tomorrow what needed to happen yesterday. And now tomorrow is here, today, and countries like mine are out of time.” Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis speaking at the COP26 Summit in Scotland on November 02, 2021, where as many as 130 world leaders and thousands of diplomats, experts and activists have gathered to discuss climate change and to negotiate steps to slow the rise of global temperatures.

“Climate change is the ultimate defining issue of our time for the human race. We have reached a pivotal moment or point of inflection in time where we must decide our planet’s security and overall future path!”….Wayne Neely.

     A growing concern is the increasing number and severity of extreme weather events—with all they entail in terms of loss of life and damage to property and infrastructure that can quickly weaken small economies. SIDS are among the countries least responsible for climate change and are highly dependent on others to ensure that significant action is taken to support the Convention. Consequently, they strive not only to help the process directly but also to ensure that proper international action is taken to limit emissions of greenhouse gases and to adapt to climate change. Scientists warn that if the temperature rise isn’t kept beneath 1.5 degrees Celsius, the planet will experience devastating effects like more deadly floods, intense droughts, and hurricanes.
     SIDS is recognized as a unique grouping of developing countries. Located in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, Caribbean, and Pacific regions, they comprise 58 countries disproportionately vulnerable to climate change and its impacts. With adaptation to climate change viewed as a viable and necessary complement to mitigation, academic interest in adaptation in these complex geographies is increasing. Despite this, more is needed to know about the body of knowledge relating to adaptation to SIDS. 
     “According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Assessment Report, by mid-century, climate change is expected to reduce water resources in many small islands, such as The Bahamas, to the point where they become insufficient to meet demand during low-rainfall periods. The Report also stated it is likely that heat waves have become more frequent over most land areas, and it is likely that the frequency of heavy precipitation events has increased over most areas,” said Mr. Michael Stubbs, former Deputy Director of the Bahamas Department of Meteorology during a local interview. Mr. Stubbs noted that the heat tolerance of agriculture, horticulture, livestock, and crops depends on the availability and efficient use of water collected from local and watershed precipitation. He further noted that architects and structural engineers use weather information such as wind loading, rainfall for drainage, temperature statistics for heating and air conditioning, and flood frequency to ensure safe construction at elevations above oceans. He talked about climate change’s impact on infectious and chronic diseases, the positive effect on athletes, and the results of sporting events. 
     Climate change is how the characteristics of the weather we experience in a particular place change due to humanity’s actions or lack thereof. It can get hotter or wetter on average or have more concentrated rain in a short period but then get longer dry periods. All of that can be a result of climate change. Global warming is a term used interchangeably with climate change, although the latter is preferred because the warming atmosphere and oceans are just some of the effects we see. ‘It’s not just about temperature. Places are also becoming wetter or drier, and some seasons are moving. Most importantly, it may sometimes be cooler in a few regions and seasons than we’re used to. The main driver of current climate change is the emission of greenhouse gases, most notably carbon dioxide and methane. These are primarily released when fossil fuels are burnt. Meat and dairy production, cement production, and some industrial processes, such as producing and using fertilizers, also emit greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gases trap heat in our atmosphere. Since the mid-nineteenth century, the world has emitted over 2.2 trillion tonnes of carbon dioxide.
     Energy from the Sun falls on our planet and usually gets reflected as infrared radiation. But instead of escaping back into space, this radiation gets absorbed by greenhouse gas molecules, emitting them in all directions. This process causes more heat to be kept near the Earth’s surface, warming our world. How do we know the climate is changing? The easy answer is that there are measuring stations all around the world that keep track of air and sea temperature. From these measurements, it’s clear that temperatures are rising. Many more indicators tell us that the Earth is warming. For example, we would expect polar ice caps and glaciers to melt on a warming planet. It is clearly observed that those are melting.
     We know that greenhouse gases are causing change. Thanks to studies on how carbon dioxide absorbs infrared radiation, for example, there is a scientific understanding of how the planet would warm due to emissions. It’s also known that greenhouse gases are primarily emitted by fossil fuel combustion. Climate change has different effects everywhere. The planet is generally getting hotter, but some regions and seasons can sometimes be temporarily cooler. Some places will see drawn-out seasons, while others may experience concentrated bursts of extreme weather. Extreme weather events – such as hurricanes, floods, heatwaves, drought, and wildfires – are predicted to become more intense and frequent. Any weather event is likely influenced by climate change. As scientists, we can estimate how much climate change has made a particular event more likely or more intense than it would have been without climate change. When the world warms, ice melts. Arctic sea ice could disappear entirely in a warming world, and Greenland and Antarctica’s ice sheets could be destabilized. This would result in large sections melting, adding more liquid to the ocean.
     The rising sea level caused by climate change threatens low-lying islands such as the Bahamas. Ice also reflects the Sun’s energy, so without ice, more heat is absorbed by the ocean. This increased heat causes the water to expand, known as ‘thermal expansion.’  As a result, the ocean takes up more space, causing sea levels to rise. Even with rapid emission cuts, sea levels are expected to rise by around 26 to 53 centimeters by 2100. It also results in severe flooding over coastal and low-lying countries like the Bahamas. Along with melting ice sheets and glaciers, rising global temperatures could cause rainforests to die and widespread species extinctions. Around 190 million people live in areas that, due to rising sea levels, are expected to be under high tide levels by 2100. This could cause a massive displacement of populations. Low-lying atoll nations such as the Bahamas and the Maldives in the Pacific are incredibly vulnerable to this change and could be lost to the sea.
     Hundreds of millions rely on seafood as their primary source of protein. Warming and more acidic waters could destroy marine food chains by affecting their base, such as krill or coral reefs. Longer-lasting droughts could devastate crops, threatening food security. Reservoirs drying up, as well as the loss of glaciers, could make drinking water scarce. Increased precipitation can cause deadly flooding and lower indoor air quality. This could affect our health as dampness benefits molds and fungi. Around four billion people live in urban areas; by 2050, this will have risen to an estimated 6.7 billion. Natural disasters impact poor and vulnerable populations disproportionately and expose the consequences of ignoring social inequalities. With extreme weather increasing, these populations face a heightened level of risk. Preferably, we would have started 25 or 30 years ago, paying attention to the consequences of climate change, but it is better late than never paying any attention to it.