Climate Change and Disaster Management

Ross Prizzia

• Publisher: Sentia Publishing
• ISBN:
  9780996167277
• Topic: Biological Sciences
• Subtopic: Global Warming & Climate Change
• Index: Biological Sciences

This book makes the case that many climate related scientists have provided data that confirm that burning fossil fuels has increased greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere, which has had a major impact on climate change. Each of the six chapters provides many references and questions for review.

The first chapter emphasizes worldwide awareness of the relationship between climate change and disasters in the Asia Pacific region. The following chapters cover such topics as climate change mitigation measures by government and the relationship between climate change and disaster preparedness, response, and recovery, the role of EPA and FEMA, actions taken by the Asian Bank and the probable future impact of climate change on mass migrations in the future.

Chapter 1

Disasters and Climate Change

Evidence of Climate Change

The scientific opinion on climate change is that the Earth’s climate system is unequivocal y warming, and it is extremely likely (at least 95% probability) that humans are causing most of it through activities such as deforestation and burning fossil fuels that increase concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHG) in the atmosphere. This scientific consensus is expressed in synthesis reports by scientific bodies of national or international standing and by opinion surveys among climate scientists. Individual scientists, universities, and laboratories contribute to this overall scientific opinion via peer-reviewed publications. The areas of collective agreement are summarized in these high level, reputable reports and surveys.

The assessments of global warming by national and international science academies and scientific societies are general y consistent with the conclusions of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The IPCC Fourth Assessment Report summarized: Warming of the climate system is unequivocal as evidenced by rising global average sea levels, increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, and widespread melting of snow and ice. Most of the global warming since the mid-20th century is very likely due to human activities. Benefits and costs of climate change for [human] society vary widely by location and scale. Some of the effects in temperate 5

and polar regions are positive and others elsewhere are negative. Overal , net effects are more likely to be strongly negative with larger or more rapid warming. The current warming trend is of particular significance because most of it is proceeding at a rate that is unprecedented in the past 1,300 years.

Technological advances, including earth orbiting satellites, have enabled scientists to collect many different types of information about our planet and its climate that show climate change on a global scale. Scientific observations of above average global sea rising levels, increased global average air and ocean temperatures, and widespread melting of snow and ice provide evidence of the increase in the extent and rate of climate change. The changing sea levels are measured by the presence of coral reefs and sediment from the sea floor shows changes in ocean temperature. The volume of polar ice caps indicates change by their chemical composition and the presence of warm or cold water fossil species. The most useful evidence is found from analyzing ice cores from ancient glaciers in Greenland and Antarctica. These show changes in concentrations of gas bubbles such as carbon dioxide and methane over millions of years. The heat-trapping nature of carbon dioxide and other gases was demonstrated in the mid-19th century. Their ability to affect the transfer of infrared energy through the atmosphere is detected by scientific instruments flown by NASA. Ice cores drawn from Greenland, Antarctica, and tropical mountain glaciers reveal that the Earth’s climate responds to changes in solar output, in the Earth’s orbit, and in greenhouse gas levels.

Increased levels of greenhouse gases cause the Earth to warm in response. The large changes in climate have occurred very rapidly, geological y-speaking, in tens of years, not in millions or even thousands.

The evidence for rapid climate change is compelling. Global sea level rose about 17 centimeters (6.7 inches) in the last century. The rate in the last decade, however, is nearly double that of the last century. All three major global surface temperature reconstructions show that Earth has warmed since 1880. Most of this warming has occurred since the 1970s, with the 20 warmest years having occurred since 1981 and with all 10 of the warmest years occurring in the past 12 years. Although the 2000s witnessed a solar output decline resulting in an unusual y deep solar minimum in 2007-2009, surface temperatures continue to rise. The oceans have absorbed much of this increased heat, with the top 700 meters (about 2,300 feet) of ocean showing warming of 0.302 degrees Fahrenheit since 1969.

Data from NASA’s Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment show Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets have decreased in mass. Greenland lost 150 to 250 cubic kilometers 6

(36 to 60 cubic miles) of ice per year between 2002 and 2006, while Antarctica lost about 152 cubic kilometers (36 cubic miles) of ice per year between 2002 and 2005. The number of record high temperature events in the United States has been increasing, while the number of record low temperature events has been decreasing since 1950. The U.S. has also witnessed growing numbers of intense rainfall events. Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, the acidity of surface ocean waters has increased by about 30 percent. This increase is the result of humans emitting more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and hence more being absorbed into the oceans. The amount of carbon dioxide absorbed by the upper layer of the oceans is increasing by about 2 billion tons per year (http://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/).

The rate of global warming is accelerating. The 20th century’s last two decades were the hottest in 400 years and possibly the warmest for several millennia, according to a number of climate studies. The United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports that 11 of the past 12 years are among the dozen warmest since 1850. The Arctic is feeling the effects the most. Average temperatures in Alaska, western Canada, and eastern Russia have risen at twice the global average, according to the multinational Arctic Climate Impact Assessment report compiled between 2000 and 2004. Arctic ice is rapidly disappearing and the region may have its first completely ice-free summer by 2040 or earlier. Polar bears and indigenous cultures are already suffering from the sea-ice loss.

After studying these climate data collected over many years, most of the leading scientific organizations worldwide have issued public statements acknowledging certain undisputed facts about the Earth’s climate. The Earth’s climate is warming rapidly and much of it in the past century is very likely due to human activities.

The Impact of Climate Change on National

Security

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the international authority on the science of climate change, concluded in its most recent report that climate change is a reality; it is already happening. The measured increase in the global average temperature by 0.6°C over the last century can be linked largely to increases of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere due to human activities. The ten warmest years on record have all occurred since 1990, including every year since 1997 (WMO, 2004). In 7

addition, a growing number of physical and biological responses, such as the melting of glaciers in most regions of the world and changes in the behavior and distribution of species are being detected (IPCC, 2010 a, b).

Projections of future changes suggest that the global average temperature will increase by 1.4 to 5.8°C by the end of the 21st century in comparison to 1990 levels. This average increase in temperature is associated with local and regional changes in climatic conditions. The magnitude of change is likely to be unprecedented for at least the last 1,000 years (IPCC a).

Climate change has far reaching implications for disaster risk management. The catastrophic impacts of climate change threaten the safety and stability of worldwide communities. According to a 2003 U.S. Defense Department study, climate change is a significant security threat. This analysis projected widespread regional conflict and even riots in some countries with a scarcity of food, water, and energy and argued that global warming and climate change “must be viewed as a serious threat to global stability and should be elevated beyond a scientific debate to a national security concern” (Miller, 2005).

In October 2009, President Obama issued Executive Order EO 13514 requiring federal agencies to support the U.S. Government’s efforts to develop a national climate change adaptation strategy. Coordinated across the U.S. Government through the Interagency Climate Change Adaptation Task Force, this process will ultimately establish and implement climate change adaptation plans for all federal departments and agencies.

Moreover, in reference to Mission 1: Preventing Terrorism and Enhancing Security, EO

13514 warned that:

“The impacts of climate change could directly affect the nation’s critical infrastructure. In U.S. coastal regions, rising sea levels, higher storm surge, and increased erosion could damage or destroy critical infrastructure. In Western States, higher temperatures and more frequent or severe heat waves could buckle railways, damage roads, and strain power systems. Indirectly, climate change acts as a “threat multiplier,” aggravating stressors abroad such as poverty, environmental degradation, and social tensions, resulting in conditions that could enable terrorist activity, violence, and mass migration” (EO 13514, 2009).

In a speech in October 2010, Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, recognized climate change as a threat to national security and emphatical y stated that: 8

“The scarcity of and potential competition for resources like water, food and space, compounded by an influx of refugees if coastal lands are lost, does not only create a humanitarian crisis but creates conditions of hopelessness that could lead to failed states and make populations vulnerable to radicalization.

These challenges highlight the systemic implications and multiple-order effects inherent in energy security and climate change” (National Security Strategy, 2010).

In his 2015 State of the Union address to the congress and the nation, President Obama cautioned against ignoring the findings of the best scientists in the world informing us that human activities are changing the global climate with massive negative effects that pose immediate threats to our national security. It behooves us to pay attention to the risks (State of the Union, 2015).

Worldwide Awareness of Climate

Change and Natural Disasters

The destructive effects of climate change in varied regions around the world have raised awareness of future dire consequences if left unchecked. More than 80 percent of people around the world think climate change will lead to more natural disasters in the future, while nearly the same number fear they will be affected by a natural disaster in the next 20 years, according to a poll released by the European insurance giant Swiss Re. The average person around the world is “acutely aware” of the climate risks ahead in the not-too-distant future and members of the public also want their government leaders to do more to prepare for a riskier world (Johnson, 2013).

This Swiss Re risk perception survey polled nearly 22,000 people aged 15 and older across five continents. Findings include:

• 84 percent believe climate change will be responsible for more natural disasters in the future.

• Nearly 8 in 10 fear damage from an earthquake, flood, or other natural disaster sometime in the next 20 years.

• 75 percent would use renewable energy if it were more available.

• 91 percent want their government to do more to promote energy efficiency.

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Of those who felt threatened by the risks that climate change poses where they live, 58 percent said it would contribute “to a great extent” or “to some extent” to natural disasters in the future (Johnson, 2013).

Changes in the Magnitude and Frequency

of Climatic Extremes

Disasters are associated with extreme climatic events. For example, climate change can lead to higher maximum temperatures and heat waves over almost all land areas (IPCC, 2001). That heat waves can have devastating impacts even in developed countries became glaringly clear in 2003, when a heat wave—with temperatures rising above 40°C (WMO, 2004)—was linked to more than 35,000 excess deaths in France, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Germany and the United Kingdom (Koppe et al., 2004). Recent research suggests that past human induced greenhouse gas emissions have at least doubled the risk of the occurrence of heat waves (Stott et al., 2004).

In addition, climate change is expected to lead to more intense precipitation events for many areas causing a higher probability of floods, landslides, avalanches, and soil erosion with associated damages (IPCC, 2001). Conversely, for most mid-latitude continental interiors, increased summer drying is likely with subsequent risk of droughts. Peak wind intensity of cyclones, hurricanes, and typhoons is likely to increase in some areas. While it is not ful y established, it is also possible that the distribution of tropical cyclones may change (IPCC, 2001). Since 1975, El Niño events have become more frequent in comparison to La Niña episodes. Climate change is likely to intensify droughts and floods associated with El Niño events.

The number of great natural catastrophes per decade increased fourfold and the number of economic losses increased 14 times, if the period 1990-1999 is compared to 1950-1959. It is, however, striking that while the intensity and frequency of weather related (hydro-meteorological) hazards have increased in many regions, the number of geological hazards (e.g. earthquakes, volcano eruptions) reflect long time-scale variations but not trends, as noted by the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) (UNISDR, 2008). The increase in hydro-meteorological disasters is due to many human related factors, including uncontrolled urbanization in hazard prone areas and environmental degradation. As climate change alters the magnitude and frequency of extreme climatic events it is important to recognize that 10

coping and response mechanisms and economic planning based on past vulnerabilities may no longer suffice for what is to come. Indeed, in many countries these existing mechanisms are already insufficient at the current level of vulnerability.

Changes in Average Climatic Conditions

and Climate Variability

Beyond affecting the climatic extremes, climate change also alters average climatic conditions and climate variability. While more subtle in nature and not necessarily hazards in themselves, these changes affect underlying risk factors and thereby the ability to cope with and recover when climate extreme events and other natural hazards strike, thus compounding their impact. For example, where a shift from a productive to a marginal agricultural area occurs, the impact of a drought or a flood on climate sensitive livelihoods such as farming and cattle ranching is likely to be especial y difficult if remedial measures are not taken. Rural livelihoods and food security in Africa are particularly threatened by climate change as shown in a comprehensive assessment by the Insurance Institute of South Africa (IISA) (Fischer et al., 2005).

Changing baselines of environmental conditions where disasters occur must be recognized for their implications for disaster risk management planning efforts. While most impacts of climate change are exacerbations or alterations of existing threats, some impacts induced by global warming in recent history may be new to a region and, consequently, there is little experience in dealing with such impacts. Many disasters may be threshold events. For example, coral bleaching occurs when water temperatures exceed a threshold and coral expel symbiotic algae. Where the warming is sustained, coral reefs may not recover and thus die. Such changes, in combination with rising sea levels, threaten the livelihood and safety of island nations where coral reefs sustain fisheries and provide protection from storm surges. Knowing how to mitigate or deal with such threshold events can help to maintain the health of ecosystems by reducing compounding impacts.

The global y observed retreat of glaciers is another example where climate change may lead to new disaster threat levels. The accumulation of water in natural dams as a result of glacial melt may lead to glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) with destructive down-stream effects. As temperatures increase even at higher altitudes in the lower troposphere, the melting of glaciers has been considerable in many regions, exposing 11

areas and valleys to the risk of GLOFs. Because the magnitude of the threat is new, its implications may not have been considered in earlier government settlement planning and policies.

Other environmental threats are related to climate induced spatial and temporal changes. These include, for example, the spread of climate sensitive diseases into regions where these diseases did not occur before (McMichael, 2003), the appearance of invasive species in areas where they previously did not exist, as well as the disappearance of species from areas that are no longer suitable to them (IPCC, 2001).

Many changes like these can be anticipated and planned for through a combination of scientific research, monitoring, and foresight planning, if the thresholds are known.

However, climate change may also cause unforeseen events – surprises – with negative consequences that are not anticipated. The climate system is a complex one with multiple feed-back loops among the ocean, atmosphere, and terrestrial ecosystems. The more rapidly the climate system is affected by increasing levels in greenhouse gases, the higher the potential for surprises. Therefore, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other harmful impacts on the environment is a...

Table of contents

• Chapter 1
• Chapter 2
• Chapter 3
• Chapter 4
• Chapter 5
• Chapter 6