according to a study conducted by the proceedings of the national academy of sciences, the planet could see a greater increase in global temperatures in the next 50 years than it did in the last 6,000 combined.

climate change has already started to affect global affairs and today strains relations between countries.

countries in the middle east are fueding over water, a decline in agricultural output is fueling hunger and poverty in latin america, and changing weather patterns are contributing to rapid urbanization worldwide, which in turn reinforces the problem of climate change.

as demonstrated by publishers and magazines like the council on foreign relations and foreign policy, climate change is a foreign policy issue and will require multilateral cooperation to mitigate, or it will continue to affect international relations for years to come.

interestingly, the language used to refer to this global phenomenon has shifted over the years. it was first referred to as “global warming,” but this term has been phasing out in the past decade or so in favor of “climate change” which is an all encompassing term that better describes the worsening environment.

however, there has been a third term that has gained popularity in recent years: the “climate crisis.” other related terms include the “climate emergency” and “climate catastrophe.” these terms put more urgency on the situation so that people can better understand the stakes of climate change.

various organizations have made a point to replace outdated terminology with more accurate ones in regards to the environment.

for example, in 2019 the guardian, a british daily newspaper, published an article addressing the fact they are updating their “style guide” to “to introduce terms that more accurately describe the environmental crises facing the world.”

these changes came less than a year after the un secretary general antónio guterres first used the term “climate crisis” in a speech in september of 2018.

the guardian made six main language changes on the environment. for example, “climate crisis” will be used instead of “climate change” in order to more accurately reflect the seriousness of the situation. also, “climate denier” will be used instead of “climate skeptic” to be more specific, as well as “greenhouse gas emissions” in place of “carbon emissions.” 

the guardian stands as an example of how language can have power in society and can affect public opinion, and prompts other news sources to make similar changes. 

in addition to rhetoric changes in the media, new words have even been added to the dictionary.

in the month prior to the 26th conference of the parties to the united nations framework convention on climate change (cop26) in november of 2021, the oxford english dictionary (oed) released an update on climate terminology.

according to the oxford monitor corpus of english, a source that analyzes trends in the english language, the term “climate crisis” made its first appearance in the dictionary in 2021 and the term became 20 times more popular from 2018 to 2020. also, while the oed usually doesn’t usually include chemical formulas, it recently added co2 to the dictionary because of its frequent use in society today.

“global heating” is another addition to the dictionary –– despite “global warming” already existing –– because of how it reflects a more urgent and accurate connotation. additionally, terms like “eco-anxiety” and “climate refugees” have been added as well.

the update on the oxford english dictionary is a telling sign of the urgency of the climate situation and better equips people to add to the discourse on environmentalism. 

it has become clear that the climate crisis is a problem that cannot be solved by one actor alone.

it will require global governance and the participation of leading international organizations, individuals, and states. the window for action is closing, and measures need to be taken immediately to mitigate the climate crisis.

language and rhetoric hold a lot of power in our society and should be used with caution and good intentions. news sources can learn from the guardian, which made a point to switch to more effective and informed language when referring to the climate crisis.

this switch in rhetoric has many political implications, which consequently affects the economy and society as well. despite clear scientific evidence of a worsening environment, climate change continues to be one of the most polarizing issues in the world today.

there is a clear partisan divide over environmental regulations in the united states. presidential candidates often address energy and environmental issues during their campaigns, and how their policies will (or will not) affect the economy. 

in an interview for the journal of critical thought and praxis, dr. danielle endres, associate professor of communication and faculty in the environmental humanities masters program at the university of utah, introduces climate change rhetoric as a social phenomenon.

she states that “climate change is not only a material phenomenon; it is also a social phenomenon. we cannot hope to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, slow the warming of the planet, and adapt to the changes already in effect without broad societal change.”

the science itself is rather straightforward, but it is what we do with the science that is causing extreme deliberation in our society.

increased environmental regulation is necessary to mitigate the effects of the climate crisis. new environmental organizations, regional responses, and improved education methods are just a few ways in which we can halt or even reverse the effects of climate change in our generation.

the climate crisis is one of the largest and most consequential problems that we have faced as a society and will require collective action to overcome. changing the way in which we refer to the changing climate will determine the methods we use to effectively respond to the situation –– rhetoric holds power and it is time that we yield this tool to create a more environmentally-conscious society. 

global warming may make infectious diseases such as covid-19 more widespread, warn health and climate experts. they say increasing temperatures are changing disease progression and interaction among people in ways that make it hard to predict and prepare for future public health crises.

with 2020 tied with 2016 for the warmest year on record and covid-19 topping 400,000 deaths in the u.s., climate change and public health are both at crisis points and inextricably linked. nasa scientists report that rising temperatures are part of the long-term trend of global warming, resulting in more droughts and heat waves, more intense and frequent hurricanes, and increased flooding and infrastructure damage.

“all of those things are being affected by the changes in climate, so the net effect of those is quite hard to predict ahead of time,” said gavin schmidt, director of nasa’s goddard institute for space studies, in a press webinar on 2020 temperature rise.

the warming climate is also affecting disease progression. schmidt said diseases carried by hosts that are sensitive to temperature — mosquitoes, parasites or other organisms such as bats — will shift, making people more vulnerable to unknown diseases in the future.

these diseases may be spread more rapidly as people congregate in warmer weather. but colder weather is posing challenges as well. in the case of covid-19, the winter season has made it likelier that people congregate indoors, where the virus is more easily transmitted to others.

“coronaviruses are spread person to person, so the way that climate change is going to affect the spread of infectious diseases such as the covid-19 virus is really how it changes the way people interact,” said dr. robert horsburgh, professor of epidemiology at boston university and founding steering committee chairman of the cdc’s tuberculosis epidemiologic studies 2022年世界杯亚洲预选赛结果 .

horsburgh said deforestation and habitat destruction, accelerated by climate change, may expose more people to zoonotic diseases (those that pass from animals or insects to humans). human expansion into natural areas increases interaction between people and pathogen-carrying animals.

at the same time, biodiversity loss poses challenges for antibiotic development to protect against new diseases. the world wildlife fund’s 2020 living planet report found a nearly 70% decline in the population sizes of mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, and fish between 1970 and 2016. one in five plants are now threatened with extinction.

“we don’t know what we’ve missed,” he said. “many of our effective biologicals come from plant sources … so there’s certainly a theoretical possibility that by changing the environment, we will lose some possible antibiotics in the future.”

responding quickly is key. in his first few hours in office wednesday, president joe biden signed a series of executive orders, including rejoining the paris agreement for international cooperation to curtail climate change and mandating mask-wearing on federal property. the day one directives promise more aggressive action by the biden administration to combat the covid-19 pandemic and climate change.

but there is a lag in the effect human corrective activity will have on environmental recovery. the rollback of protective measures under former president donald trump, together with the delay of international negotiations due to covid-19, will continue to have serious public health consequences.

“i’ve been saying for years that we’re not spending enough time to try to prevent the spread of infectious diseases, and perhaps the covid epidemic has been a wake-up call,” horsburgh said. “we need to be vigilant about looking out for the next epidemic — and it won’t be a coronavirus. it’ll be something that we never expected. that’s what’s hardest to prevent: something that you don’t expect.”

scientists have warned that the earth’s climate is close to reaching a tipping point known as the point of no return. in an interconnected climate system, passing one tipping point could trigger a flood of irreversible changes. if global temperatures rise past 1.5 degrees celsius, ice sheets could collapse entirely, leading to even higher sea levels. as the sea ice melts and mixes into warming oceans, which store massive amounts of carbon dioxide, the gas from deeper waters will be released. this chain reaction will create an enduring cycle of global warming. 

not only are anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions causing us to near the climate tipping point, but the united nations has reported that climate change exacerbates inequality. this disparity is caused by the three factors of increased exposure of disadvantaged groups to the effects of climate change, increased susceptibility to damage, and decreased ability to cope and recover. advantaged groups that are the most prepared for climate disasters are often the ones who live in safer areas or have the ability to move and rebuild their lives after a disaster hits. for them, the threat may not seem real. 

even amid the massive california wildfires, residents were not affected equally. as the sky turned an apocalyptic red, celebrities were criticized for hiring private firms to supplement state and local firefighters to protect their homes. meanwhile, housekeepers and gardeners continued to go to work in these homes out of fear of losing their jobs or because no one had bothered to notify them of evacuation orders. for some, the wildfires are a looming threat of losing everything they’ve worked for. others watch the destruction from the safety of their second homes. 

while the nation is busy debating whether climate change is real, a false dichotomy exists between climate change and equality. climate change is interwoven with racial injustice, gender inequality, and poverty, among other issues. these are not separate issues for policymakers to prioritize, one over the other. by creating awareness for the interconnectivity between the united states’ most pressing problems, people might be able to understand that climate change is tangible. if the nation cannot move past the argument of what is true and what is false, we are already past the point of no return. 

to overcome this argument, we need to believe in science. this may seem simple, but how many modern scientists have household names in the united states? scientists have become faceless in our society due to a lack of adequate communication between scientists and the public. the american media has a duty to become better equipped with reporting scientific news by listening to scientists and translating their quantitative findings into a language that can be consumed and understood by the general public. the pew research center has found that public trust in the government has hit record lows. if the media practiced science reporting that did not get entangled with american politics, trust in science and trust in the government could be renewed. 

in an electoral year, people voted based on the partisan issues they stand for and against. unless we can urgently return climate change to its status as a bipartisan issue, the conversations surrounding taxes, gun laws, or abortion rights won’t matter anymore.

it may happen that the very measures we are hoping to tackle climate change with, could result in the opposite, bringing more misery than respite. in such a scenario, many questions might arise in your mind: can we trust the scientific community? is there really no solution to the climate crisis? do we need more air pollution to delay the warming of the planet? are we looking at another ice age? (thankfully not. another ice age may happen but a 100,000 years later.) but global dimming and global warming are happening right now. how is that even plausible? well, the only way to find a way out of this labyrinth of confusion and paradoxical claims, is to understand the phenomena of global dimming. as it sits, right under our nose, a distant cousin of global warming, that not many talk about.

this silence on global dimming could be detrimental to the way we devise climate policy, and it will definitely change how we imagine our future in a rapidly warming, or even a rapidly cooling world. planet earth has a sensitive climate, where even a small change in the atmosphere can trigger dangers for human beings. some of these impacts already have taken place in the form of cyclones, volcanic eruptions, floods, and earthquakes. we have not only normalized environmental destruction, both in the ways we get affected by it and in the way we cause it — but also by adding the drama of global dimming to this soup. this might not raise many eyebrows, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be scared, because there is so much about our planet that we have yet to discover. the climate is one of the most complex systems on earth, even when we say it is changing rapidly, it is not doing so within seconds. the impact that it can have on life, will make or break our future within seconds.

this uncertainty shouldn’t be the cause of fear, rather the start of an acceptance, toward a world, where the more we try to stake a claim, the more we have to lose, both in resources and in lives. the ongoing global pandemic is the latest result of this uncertain future that has been passed on to us. under normal conditions, the sun, our only source of heat, emits solar radiation. about 26% of the incoming solar radiation is reflected back into space by the atmosphere and clouds. only 19% is absorbed by the earth. this incoming radiation or insolation is of shorter wavelengths compared to the outgoing solar radiation which is of longer wavelengths. this process of giving and take forms a balance called the heat budget, without which extreme temperatures would cause excessive cooling and warming on the planet. when aerosols enter the atmosphere, just like clouds they also reflect back the incoming solar radiation into space, acting as a reflective piece of mirror. due to this the heat budget or balance gets destabilized. this results in the cooling of the earth and causes a new kind of climatic change called global dimming. aerosols are basically fine solid particles or liquid droplets. they can be both naturals, as well as anthropogenic like fog, mist, dust particles, fossil fuel emissions, even deodorant sprays, and volcanic ash, which are all nothing but an aerosol, some significant contributors to air pollution.

global dimming is, therefore, a decrease in the amount of solar radiation reaching the surface of the earth. the byproducts of fossil fuels in the form of aerosols are the ultimate enemy of the planet here. this phenomenon of dimming was first observed in the 1950s when gerald stanhill, an english scientist working in israel, studied the decline in a few scientific papers and coined the term global dimming, and even then, the larger scientific community failed to take notice or make much uproar about the issue. measurements from the 1960s to the early 1990s backed up by a range of data and independent studies proved the global phenomenon. but some say that the issue goes way back to 1783 when a volcanic eruption in iceland made scientists sit up to the possibility of smoke and ash blocking sunlight and causing unusually cold weather in europe. the connection was made clearer in the 20th century, on whether a human volcano of air pollution might cause similar changes or not. surprisingly this change in iceland even led to the most catastrophic famine in the history of the nation. during world war – ii the new field of aerosol science was developed to understand the spread of aerosol particles from wartime explosions, to understand their impact on climate. on similar lines, some scientists warned that a nuclear war could lead to nuclear winter and even linked the extinction of dinosaurs with global dimming. blaming it for cooling the atmosphere and leading to their demise. but the clearest evidence came when mount pinatubo in the philippines suddenly erupted, releasing 20 million tons of sulfur dioxide into the air, creating a lingering haze of sulfate aerosols. this event was investigated by nasa scientists led by james hansen, who deduced that half a degree drop in global temperatures, especially in the northern latitudes was to be expected in the coming decade as a result of this eruption. and that is what exactly happened, convincing the scientific community by the mid 1990s that global dimming cannot be ignored anymore.

all this hue and cry for a phenomenon that has been observed in almost all parts of the world today was just limited to the global north back then, maybe due to the rapid advancements in industrialization and urbanization. it was not until the 1960s, that a cumulative mixture of industrial pollution, haze, smog, and shifting cultivation (slash and burn agriculture) finally made the global south bear witness to global dimming too. closer home an indian scientist, dr. veerabhadran ramanathan has documented how pollution was severely dimming areas of the indian ocean. in the famous study called project indoex, he found that a huge brown ash cloud generated from the pollution streams, traveling airborne over the indian ocean from india onto the northern and southern ends of maldives were a cause of concern. these streams were creating a nearly three km thick layer made of toxic aerosols that were blocking the sunlight reaching the ocean. therefore, with mounting evidence, nasa launched a satellite called “aqua” in 2002 which gathered satellite data confirming that aerosol pollution was cooling the climate by more than a degree celsius. one can understand from this that the warming of the planet due to global warming, is consistently being offset by the cooling effect from global dimming.

it has also been theorized that today’s rapid climate change may increase volcanic activity, since 2000, on average the world has witnessed, around 60 to 80 volcanic eruptions every year. according to a recent study by a team of researchers that analyzed volcanic fallout records in six arctic ice cores, found that one of the largest volcanic eruptions of the past 2,500 years occurred in early 43 b.c.e. and it was among the coldest years of the recent millennia in the northern hemisphere at the start of one of the coldest decades. further research suggested that this high-latitude eruption led to pronounced changes in hydroclimate, including colder seasonal temperatures in specific mediterranean regions during the two-year period following the eruption, thus the link between volcanic eruptions and cooling on account of global dimming may be having a longer history than anticipated.

from the face of it, one thing is clear, that aerosols are the major cause of global dimming. while we cannot rule out the possibility that natural variations in the earth’s climate may have contributed to this, but the effects are so closely related to air pollution that human activity seems to be largely responsible. thus, pollution from millions of vehicles and airplane contrails (those white streams of vapor filled clouds coming out of the back of the airplane), not only causes global warming, but also global dimming. thus, it is not only the intensity of polluted air but also the composition of polluted particles in the air that should matter. global dimming has three-fold economic, environmental, and social implications. it can affect the solar energy industry, as lack of sunlight will lead to delay in charging of solar power-dependent units, the environmental costs in terms of agricultural productivity and acid rain are also going to cause damage in certain areas, ultimately causing social distress, unrest, and diseases that are respiratory in nature, much of which seems to be already unfolding.

globally dimming has already been observed in areas like hong kong, china, india, chile, and venezuela. whereas almost 22 sites in both arctic and antarctic have observed dimming. there have been gaps in observations over africa, south america, and maritime continents. not enough studies have focused on the impact on the ocean surface except for a few island studies. overall, the southern hemisphere seems to be better off compared to northern hemisphere which has seen around 4 – 8 percent dimming. in the global north, europe and north america are recovering faster than china and india, where global dimming is still on the rise. global dimming can also lead to changes in the rainfall pattern. it has caused water in the northern hemisphere to become colder, which means slow evaporation and fewer water droplets. this in return reduces the amount of rain reaching worldwide, which is a cause of concern for the asian monsoon responsible for 50 percent of the world’s annual rainfall. this leads to a weakening of the monsoon and associated increased droughts over india. it had already been established that the drought and famine of the sahel which has killed thousands of innocent people in sub-saharan africa during the 1970s, was largely due to global dimming. if this happens again, then half of the world’s population will be starving. not only this it is also believed to cause heatwaves and runaway fires.

also, a decrease in sunlight or solar radiation will negatively impact the process of photosynthesis in plants. along with sahel’s famine and drought, the 2011 ethiopian food crisis has also been linked to dimming. a 2007 nasa sponsored satellite-based study sheds light on the puzzling observations by other scientists that the amount of sunlight reaching earth’s surface which had been steadily declining in recent decades, began to reverse around 1990. this switch from a “global dimming” trend to a ” global brightening” trend happened just as global aerosol levels started to decline in the atmosphere, due to strict policy measures taken in the global north. a specific look at india suggests a grim scenario with a 6.3 percent decline per decade for the national capital. the annual daily bright sunshine duration now stands at about 7.5 hours, down by nearly an hour from around 8.4 hours in 1971.

activities like biomass burning and open burning of crops are causing dimming. it has been linked with the spread of urban areas and industrial activity in all metros and in fast-developing cities such as nagpur and pune. delhi is influenced by heavy injection of dust load blown over from deserts in the western parts of the country, particularly during pre-monsoon season. delhi and parts of north india also get dust particles transported from sahara as well. there might still be some time before we say a final goodbyes to sunshine altogether, even though the problem has not surfaced much again in westernized europe and america, the east is still being impacted by global dimming. sometime in the future we may see strict air pollution regulations in east asia and india which are quite inevitable, and with the pandemic, we can already observe the short term positive impact it can have on our environment, with lesser traffic and industrial activity, but on the other hand, decrease in aerosol layers in the atmosphere will allow more sunlight and naturally more heat in the environment, accelerating global warming and climate change.

therefore, in the long run, a turn to global brightening can be expected but this should be accompanied by a reduction in green house gas emissions as well if we want to tackle both the problems at once. it is due to both global warming and global dimming that earth’s temperature has increased less than what it should have been. without global dimming, this planet is too warm for all of us to survive. both of them are dangerous and can prove fatal for our environment and need to be solved together. solving each problem at a time could create worse conditions. china, indonesia, and india have been contributing a lot more of the particulates and aerosols which produce dimming. regionally, they are experiencing dimming at the levels that north america and europe were in the 1960s and 1970s.

the problem hasn’t gone away, but it has shifted locations quite a bit. it is a welcome sign that the developing countries in the world are changing their energy mixes to renewables rapidly and realizing that pollution is killing their people and slowing their economies. china and india are both shutting down coal plants, putting a halt to new coal construction, and building a ton of wind and solar. china is also building a fair amount of nuclear as well, which is much, much better than building more coal generation. global dimming will be much reduced over the coming decades.

there will still be airplane contrails, forest fires, volcanoes, and the like to deal with, but this is much closer to natural levels. if even this threat doesn’t make human beings stop the consumption of fossil fuels, then perhaps we surely are going to wake up to a world, where not only the climate is reversed, but also our fate. humanity may be looking at its last chance to redeem itself from all that is yet to come, and sometimes it is good to be scared, for it is only when we are scared, that we truly come together to solve the greatest problems in the world, a pandemic, or maybe another extinction? who knows?

references

1. what is global dimming?

retrieved july 2020 from

2. global dimming – explained.

retrieved july 2020 from

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/may/11/global-dimming-pollution

3. food and famine in the 21st century

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https://books.google.co.in/books?id=r4cat-5-neic&dq=ethiopia+famine+and+global+dimming&source=gbs_navlinks_s

4. climate change: is a thinning haze unveiling the real global warming?

retrieved july 2020 from

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/315/5818/1480

5. bbc horizon documentary on global dimming

retrieved july 2020 from

https://topdocumentaryfilms.com/global-dimming/

6. aerosol pollution could drain earth’s water cycle

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http://ens-newswire.com/ens/dec2001/2001-12-07-07.asp

7. could reducing global dimming mean a hotter, dryer world?

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https://web.archive.org/web/20160303233341/http:/www.ldeo.columbia.edu/news/2006/04_14_06.htm

8. solar dimming pushes delhi towards darkness as pollution cuts daily sunshine by an hour

retrieved july 2020 from

https://www.indiatoday.in/india/north/story/pollution-delhi-sunlight-duration-solar-dimming-121563-2012-11-16

9. how can we stop global dimming?

retrieved july 2020 from

https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2017/05/18/how-can-we-stop-global-dimming/#56a4d1d11990

10. global dimming and brightening: a review

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https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2008jd011470%4010.1002/%28issn%292169-8996.dimbright1

11. discoveries in global dimming

retrieved july 2020 from

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sun/dimming.html

12. goodbye fro sunshine

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https://www.theguardian.com/science/2003/dec/18/science.research1

13. global dimming in the hottest decade

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https://www.skepticalscience.com/global-dimming-in-the-hottest-decade.html

researchers mengyao li, susana ferreria, and travis smith examined data between 1993 and 2010 on temperature and on self-reported mental health obtained from a state based health survey system under the center for disease control and prevention. cooler days were found to reduce the probability of reporting bad mental health days whereas hotter days, mostly after ten consecutive days, increased this probability. the probability of frequent mental distress (more than 14 days of bad mental health for the past month) was even higher during these hotter days. 

three years prior to these findings, a study published in environmental health perspectives concluded that exposure to air pollution was also related to poor mental health. long-term exposure to particulate matter (pm 2.5) was associated with depression and anxiety, and short-term exposure to pm 2.5 was associated with suicide. pm 2.5 are fine inhalable particles that can be emitted directly from sources, such as construction sites and unpaved roads, or through complex chemical reactions of pollutants emitted from power plants and automobiles. 

the release of new research on temperature and mental health is a concerning addition to the psychological health effects humans could face from air pollution. understanding these implications, li and the other researchers suggested future studies examine how community-level factors impact the mental effects of climate change. 

“i think it’s necessary to know how community-level factors like neighborhood environment, social cohesion, and also individual adaptation actions like use of air conditioning or migration, whether those things would help mitigate the effect of temperature on individual mental health,” li said. 

at local levels, air pollution is often worse in lower income areas, where industrial facilities or highways serve as point sources, increasing exposure. speaking on both temperature and air pollution, li said, “the two factors combined together would pose extra pressure on people that have more exposure in those communities.”

as poorer and less developed communities will ultimately bear the mental burdens of increased air pollution combined with hotter days, it is clear that climate change is not the great equalizer. this health disparity will grow as increased temperatures will only exacerbate the mental health decline of exposed communities. 

at a local level, air pollution varies throughout the district of columbia and is generally higher in the seventh and eight wards which are historically low-income and often minority neighborhoods. this inequality is left unaddressed because the environmental protection agency aggregates air quality data from their six high-cost monitoring stations, labeling the district with the same pollution levels despite drastic differences between communities.

fresh air d.c., a student-run and community focused research project about air quality at george washington university, seeks to create the first and only community level network of low-cost air quality monitors. these monitors would serve to fill the gaps in pollution level data throughout the district’s wards. aitana mendiguren, a student working on community outreach for the project, said, “we mainly want to educate and empower community members of wards seven and eight who are exposed to higher local levels of air pollution. using our sensors they will be able to actually monitor their community-levels with real data.”

while fresh air d.c. stresses the physical health effects of air pollution, the recently discovered associations between mental health and global warming only further support the necessity for their efforts. “people living in these wards need the hands-on tools to understand how their health is a risk,” mediguren said. 

that’s pretty heavy news to stomach with your burger, but the evidence is mounting. according to the food and agriculture organization of the un, 14.5% of all greenhouse gas emissions come from the production of livestock.  

our current world population is hovering around 7.5 billion people, but more than 800 million of which are dealing with hunger – or, one in nine. and even more — one in three — are suffering from malnutrition.

this seemingly contradicts reports, like this study from mcgill university and university of minnesota, that show we grow enough food to feed 10 billion people.

you may wonder how those going hungry can get their piece of the agriculture pie — and where all that extra food is going.

researchgate reports that a majority of crops such as wheat and corn, are used in the creation of biofuels and the cultivation of livestock. from an outsider’s point of view, it appears wealthy countries have prioritized the meat and automobile industries over feeding those in need.  

perhaps surprisingly, it’s not the availability of food that causes world hunger but, rather, poverty. the un-fao also found that most of the world’s poor population lives in rural areas in which they are subsistence farmers, meaning they only produce enough for their family to survive — and that’s only if everything goes right during the growing season.

demand and resource usage

so how does eating meat contribute to global poverty and, hence, global hunger? it comes down to supply and demand. as developed countries and developing countries continue to demand more meat, farmers will need to utilize more land to fulfill these needs.  

the un-fao reports 33% of all cropland is used for livestock feed, as well as 26% of all the earth’s ice-free land is used for grazing purposes. to provide the heavily demanded animal products, the livestock industry also uses one third of the earth’s freshwater supply, according to the proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america.

as more land and water is utilized to create animal products, that creates a scarcity in land and water for poor people in developing countries. this scarcity causes the prices of land and water to increase, making it harder for poor populations to gain access to these resources.   

if the western world wants to solve the problem of world hunger, we must correct our own eating habits first. the more meat we demand on a regular basis means that there is less food and water available on the earth. it takes about 1,799 gallons of water to produce 1 pound of beef — the equivalent of about 22 bathtubs full of water, or more than three weeks of baths every day — according to food tank. in comparison, the 108 gallons of water it takes to make one pound of corn doesn’t seem so bad.

the meat industry isn’t just a strain on the water supply, it is also a strain on the atmosphere as well. one ton of methane gas has the same greenhouse effect as 23 tons of carbon dioxide. and according to the conversation: “around 1.6-2.7 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases each year, mostly methane, are produced from livestock digestion. another 1.3-2.0 billion tonnes of nitrous oxide come from producing feed for livestock. and the final 1.6 billion tonnes comes from land use changes, such as clearing for animal pastures.”

what can we do about it?

in a perfect world, upon learning this, everyone would eat a vegan diet to use less of the earth’s resources, and increase the availability of said resources to those who are starving, while simultaneously cutting greenhouse gas emissions. of course, worldwide veganism is an unrealistic goal — not to mention this would cause other economic issues, based on the all the industries this change would impact.

instead, individuals could try to minimize their consumption of meat. americans, here’s a thought: maybe we don’t need beef every single day, let alone put bacon on everything.

again, we go back to supply and demand. if consumers demand less meat, those resources could be directed toward other food avenues, which increases the chances of starving populations to obtain food security.

world governments also could be taking action. a scientific analysis published in the journal nature climate change, suggests implementing an emissions tax on the meat industry would change consumption patterns.

but influencing human behavior is a difficult task. egalitarians may take personal responsibility for the impact our eating habits have on others and the earth. however, it is just as unrealistic to expect a worldwide adoption of veganism as it is to assume most individuals would consider their daily actions through an egalitarian lens.  

however, if we truly want to help ease world hunger and reduce our impact on climate change, we must modify our eating habits on an international scale – and having governments around the world adopt emissions taxes on meat is one way to help accomplish that change. 

prior to the industrial revolution, most societies did not consume meat on a daily basis, unless you’re family was amongst the elite class. only in the modern era of human consumption have we forgotten that meat is supposed to be a luxury, not a necessity. world hunger and climate change are strong reminders that such indulgences do not come without consequence.

however, it seems that many state and local politicians in the united states still intend on confronting climate change, even if the federal government is falling short. governors from washington, california, and new york have pulled together to form the u.s climate alliance. the alliance now has 13 u.s. states plus puerto rico, who are committed to upholding the stipulations agreed upon in the paris climate agreement.

for environmentalists, this is inspiring news. according to the official u.s climate alliance website, the alliance represents 1/3 of the u.s. population, contributes $7.6 trillion to u.s. gdp, and represents 1.3 million clean energy jobs. the alliance has stated that it is “committed to supporting the international agreement, and are pursuing aggressive climate action to make progress toward its goals.”

what does this mean in regards to climate change?

as laid out in the paris climate agreement, the central goal demands: “holding the increase in global average temperature to well below 2 degrees c above pre-industrial levels…” the agreement stipulates that each country come up with its own plan to combat climate change, with the united nations periodically meeting to keep countries on track with the global goal.

under the obama administration, the united states had specified that it planned on cutting domestic greenhouse gas emissions between 26-28% of 2005 levels by the year 2025. the united states also agreed to deliver $3 billion in aid to less-developed countries to assist them in reaching their climate goals. according to the new york times, the united states has already paid $1 billion of the pledged aid.

however if the trump administration does carry-through with its withdrawal, rhodium group has estimated that under trump, the united states is still expected to see a 17-19% decrease in emissions from 2005 levels.

local governments taking action

the actions by the trump administration aren’t stopping state officials from taking global action. jerry brown, governor of california went to china in early june to discuss climate change with president xi jinping.

during the six day trip, governor brown visited the provinces of jiangsu and sichuan before making his way to beijing for the clean energy ministerial conference. the conference unites both private and public delegations to focus on solutions towards three key goals: improve energy efficiency, enhance clean energy supply, and expand clean energy access.

the meeting between governor brown and president jinping demonstrates that china is now regarding climate change as a serious threat and is determined to work with the global community, even if the trump administration is not.

governor cuomo of new york is partnering with the worker institute at cornell university, to work towards the creation of 40,000 clean energy jobs by 2020. this is in an effort to achieve the statewide goal of reaching 50% of electricity from renewables by 2030. you can check out new york’s full initiative program here.

corporations taking the lead

support for action on climate change doesn’t stop at the state level. shortly after the trump administration’s announcement, a group called we are still in was formed. this group consists of 2,200 leaders around the country from city halls, state houses, boardrooms, and college campuses. we are still in represents leaders who are committed to upholding the agreements set forth in the paris climate accord.

here’s what hannah jones, the vice president of nike had to say: “we are deeply disappointed by the recent shift in climate policy…we will continue to honor our commitments on climate, including reaching 100% renewable energy in all nike owned or operated facilities around the world by 2025.”

we reached out to new york’s erie county executive, mark poloncarz a signatory of we are still in. we asked what efforts erie county is making to reach the 26-28% decrease in carbon output: “currently 70% of electricity that is generated in erie county comes from hydroelectric sources, so our goal has always been to have more renewable energy sources not just for county government but for our residents.”

the county executive said that the county is aiming towards making its facilities more environmentally friendly. some of the efforts include making county buildings more energy efficient and installing solar panels. poloncarz also indicated that they now purchase more energy efficient vehicles. 

it is enlightening news to hear that state and local governments are stepping up to combat climate change. we often forget the impact our state and local actions can have on the world. as more people begin to understand the threats of climate change, it seems inevitable that local and state governments are going to act in the effort to create a sustainable world.  mark poloncarz ended with hopeful statement: “if the federal government is not going to act, local governments can, and they do have the power to make a difference so that’s what we’re doing.”