Floods in forms and extreme and even violent natural phenomena: the human impact on the climate is already felt

This is according to part B of the IPCC report published yesterday, which predicts the increase of severe events in the future published yesterday, which reveals an increase in cases of violence on gender, ethnic and economic grounds due to the effects of warming in populations that would have been on the borderline between poverty and a reasonable life had it not been for the warming

Climate change poses a risk to humans and natural systems. Assessment of impact, adaptation and vulnerability were the topics dealt with by Working Group No. 2 for the IPCC's fifth climate report published yesterday. In this report, the authors - dozens of scientists from all over the world - assess how the patterns of risk and also a few benefits will change due to climate change.

The number of scientific publications on the assessment of climate change impacts, adaptation and vulnerability more than doubled between 2005 and 2010, in particular the number of studies from developing countries increased, although it still represents a small number of all researchers.

In recent decades there have been changes that have an impact on natural and human systems on all continents and across the oceans. The evidence of the effects of climate change is stronger and more comprehensive on natural systems but an effect on some human systems is also felt.
In many areas, changes in the amount of precipitation or in the melting of snow and ice change the hydrological systems and affect the water sources in terms of quantity and quality.
Glaciers continue to shrink almost all over the world due to climate change, which affects the flow of water downstream.

Climate change is causing the permafrost areas to warm and thaw in high latitudes and high altitude areas. Species living in fresh water and in the sea moved to other geographical areas, changed the seasonal activity and migration patterns, and changes were recorded in the distribution of species in response to the ongoing change. While a small proportion of species extinction is attributed to climate change, less rapid climate changes than those currently caused by humans have caused significant species movements and species extinctions over the past few million years.
Based on the studies covering a wide range of areas and grain crops, the negative impact of warming on agricultural productivity was more widespread than positive effects. Few studies show that the high latitudes were the ones who benefited from the warming.

Climate change has had a negative effect mainly on the yield of wheat and corn crops in many areas and on a global scale. The impact on the rice and soybean crops was lower in the production areas and in general, and approached zero in the global data calculation. However, the amount of data regarding soy is lower than the amount of data available regarding the other food plants. These phenomena have an impact on food safety more than other components that affect food safety.

Several periods of rapid growth in food and grain prices following extreme weather events in the growing areas indicates the sensitivity of the markets to extreme weather events, among other factors affecting the price.

The impact of climate change on health is more difficult to quantify. However, there has been an increase in deaths due to heat events compared to a reduction in deaths due to cold.

Local changes in the amount of rainfall changed the distribution of diseases and epidemics originating from water bodies.
People who are in a marginal situation socially, economically, culturally, politically and institutionally, are the most vulnerable to climate change and also to the adaptation and recessionary responses that governments try to make to their responses that suffer from marginalization. However, in most cases the result is an increase in socioeconomic and income inequality, as well as exposure to social processes such as discrimination based on sex, class, ethnicity and disabilities.

Effects from recent extreme weather events such as heat waves, droughts, floods, cyclones and wildfires, reveal significant vulnerability and exposure of many ecosystems and human systems to climate vulnerability. The effects of extreme weather events include, among other things, changing ecosystems, disruptions in food production and water supply, damage to infrastructure and settlements, depression and death, and consequences for mental health and well-being in countries at all levels of development. These effects show consistency with the lack of preparedness for climate vulnerability in many sectors.
Later we will bring excerpts from the chapter dealing with the attempts of governments, mainly in the West, to deal with the social effects of warming.

to the IPCC report