Based on the models used, many of the world’s poorer countries could suffer major social, economic, and ecological consequences.
Science Advances Map that shows temperature changes from the standard deviation across the globe.
Even though poor tropical areas contribute the least to greenhouse gas emissions, new research has found that these areas are more vulnerable to extreme climate effects, which can lead to detrimental agricultural, economic, and political consequences.
The research, published in the journal Science Advances on May 2, 2018, analyzed simulations from 37 climate models. The scientists were then able to reach these conclusions about inequality when it comes to climate variability in poorer nations.
All That’s Interesting spoke with the lead author on the study, Sebastian Bathiany from the Department of Environmental Sciences at Wageningen University.
“Like so often in research, we originally had a different aim,” revealed Bathiany. His original focus was on abrupt climate change and how climate variability can be used as an early warning signal of abrupt climate shifts.
“So, we were originally interested to just use climate variability to learn about how much the mean climate will change in different regions,” said Bathiany. “But we then noticed the intriguing pattern with increasing temperature variability in tropical poor countries and decreases elsewhere.”
The decreases elsewhere refer to the lack of climate instability predicted across Europe, North America, and near the Arctic coast. Greenhouse gas emissions are much higher in the United States and other wealthy countries, yet the effects are global, with tropical nations getting the worst of it.
One step countries like the U.S. can take to help rectify this inequality is obvious: reduce greenhouse gas emissions. “In addition,” said Bathiany, “they can of course help the poor countries cope with the negative impacts that will nonetheless occur.”
It’s possible for politicians to incorporate adaptive measures into their agendas in regards to these tropic countries who are seeing things like heat waves and droughts. “But the fact that changes in climate variability hit poor countries most has not been acknowledged so far,” said Bathiany.
If you found this article interesting, you may want to check out this moving look at climate change’s impact. Then take a look at these 25 global warming photos that explain the reality of climate change. Finally, learn all there is to know about climate change with this video overview.
