Wealth inequality and global warming, the prelude.
Wealth inequality and global warming, the prelude.
We are now starting to suffer the effects of global warming and wealth inequality has never been bigger. Where are we now?
Substantial progress has been made in reducing the proportion of the world’s undernourished population from an estimated 980 million in 1990-92 to about 850 million in 2010-12. However, from other relevant indicators of nutrition, such as child underweight and stunting and health surveys, an estimated 2 billion people still suffer from micronutrient deficiencies today.
It is undeniable that today there is a real fracture in society and if the current inequality remains unaddressed, it will trap people in poverty and further fracture our society.
A country that exemplifies this fracture clearly is United States. The US exhibits wider disparities of wealth between rich and poor than any other major developed nation.
The most visible indicator of wealth inequality in America today may be the Forbes magazine list of the nation’s 400 richest. In 1982, the “poorest” American listed on the first annual Forbes magazine list of America’s richest 400 had a net worth of $80 million. The average member of that first list had a net worth of $230 million. In 2016, rich Americans needed a net worth of $1.7 billion to enter the Forbes 400, and the average member held a net $6.0 billion, over 10 times the 1982 average after adjusting for inflation.
But wealth inequality is a global issue. More than 70% of the world’s adults own under $10,000 in wealth. This 70% of the world holds only 3% of global wealth. The world’s wealthiest individuals, those owning over $100,000 in assets, total only 8.6% of the global population but own 85.6% of global wealth.
A new billionaire is created every other day. The three richest Americans have the same amount of wealth as the poorest half of the U.S. population. 82% of the global wealth generated last year went to just 1% of the world’s population.
Since 2007 the long-term reduction in the prevalence of undernutrition worldwide has slowed. Pressures on food prices, economic volatilities, extreme climatic events, and changes in diet, among others are the main factors.
Interesting enough, climate change could potentially interrupt progress toward a world without hunger since additional pressures on the global food system are expected to build in the future. For example, demand for agricultural products is estimated to increase by about 50% by 2030 as the global population increases, which will require a shift toward sustainable intensification of food systems.
More food will be needed if population growth maintains its current trend. However, climate change is expected to bring warmer temperatures; changes to rainfall patterns; and increased frequency, and perhaps severity of extreme weather. By the end of this century, the global mean temperature could be 1.8° to 4.0°C warmer than at the end of the previous century. Warming will not be even across the globe and is likely to be greater over land compared with oceans, toward the poles, and in arid regions. Recent weather records also show that land surface temperatures may be increasing more slowly than expected from climate models, potentially because of a higher level of absorption of CO2 by deep oceans. Sea-level rises will increase the risk of flooding of agricultural land in coastal regions. Changes in rainfall patterns, particularly over tropical land, are less certain, partly because of the inability of the current models to represent the global hydrological cycle accurately. In general, it is expected that the summer Asian monsoon rainfall may increase, while parts of North and southern Africa could become drier.
Considering that agriculture is inherently sensitive to climate variability and change, negative consequences are ahead.
Climate change caused by emissions of greenhouse gases is expected to directly influence crop production systems for food, feed, or fodder; to affect livestock health; and to alter the pattern and balance of trade of food and food products.
Here is where the tricky part comes. Crop yields are more negatively affected across most tropical areas than at higher latitudes, and impacts become more severe with an increasing degree of climate change. Furthermore, large parts of the world where crop productivity is expected to decline under climate change coincide with countries that currently have a high burden of hunger. Some of the conclusions that researchers have reached point out that there is a robust and coherent pattern on a global scale of the impacts of climate change on crop productivity and, hence, on food availability and that climate change will exacerbate food insecurity in areas that already currently have a high prevalence of hunger and undernutrition.
A recent systematic review of changes in the yields of the major crops grown across Africa and South Asia under climate change found that average crop yields may decline across both regions by 8% by the 2050s. Across Africa, yields are predicted to change by –17% (wheat), –5% (maize), –15% (sorghum), and –10% (millet) and, across South Asia, by –16% (maize) and –11% (sorghum) under climate change. No mean change in yield was detected for rice. Researchers concluded that evidence for the impact of climate change on crop productivity in Africa and South Asia is robust for wheat, maize, sorghum, and millet.
A city already suffering the consequences of climate change in South Africa is Cape Town.
South Africa’s water crisis has hit everyone in the city, as restrictions make daily life a challenge. As a result, Cape Town residents must now live with just 50 liters each day, which is barely enough for a shower. Can you imagine yourself in such situation?
Some of the conclusions gathered from the research conducted in this area are the following:
Climate change impacts on food security will be worst in countries already suffering high levels of hunger and will worsen over time.
The consequences for global undernutrition and malnutrition of doing nothing in response to climate change are potentially large and will increase over time.
Food inequalities will increase, from local to global levels, because the degree of climate change and the extent of its effects on people will differ from one part of the world to another, from one community to the next, and between rural and urban areas.
People and communities who are vulnerable to the effects of extreme weather now will become more vulnerable in the future and less resilient to climate shocks.
Perhaps it is too late to raise awareness about global warming, we seem to be in a system perfectly designed to flow towards it. However, there are actions that we (individually) can carry on in order to contribute (collectively) towards a different scenario where climate is no longer an issue. On the other hand, wealth inequality has been present for a while in our society. Yet, its cruelty can be more easily perceived nowadays, a clue that something meaningful is happening.
There are several “solutions” proposed by researchers and international organizations such as The United Nations for instance. Before exploring them, I would love to know your opinion about the topic presented, hoping that we can create a valuable conversation in order to bring new and exciting ideas into the table. You can leave a comment here or use Instagram or Facebook to be part of the conversation.
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