Chapter 2
Literature review
2.1 Introduction
Climate change is currently generally regarded as a major global issue that is especially acute in developing countries. This study focuses on the impacts of climate change and variability on smallholder farmers, their vulnerability and coping strategies on a micro-scale in a developing country.
In order to get a comprehensive picture of these issues, this chapter reviews literature on climate change and vulnerability. It begins by defining climate change and analyzing global climate change in general and its impacts on local smallholder farmer’s livelihoods in a developing country such as Zimbabwe. Lastly the chapter also assesses the measures of adaptation which smallholder farmers can use to increase their coping capacity and resilience to climate change and variability.
2.2 Definition of climate related phenomena
2.2.1 Climate change
Climate change refers to shifts in the mean state of the climate or in its variability, persisting for an extended period of decades or longer (Ziervogel and Zermoglio, 2009). It is the change in average atmospheric behavior, and change in the patterns of variation around this behavior (Rumbach and Kudva, 2011). The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) declared that climate change is unequivocal as evidenced by observed changes in several global and regional climatic indicators (IPCC, 2007). At the country level, climate change refers to observable changes and permutations (undefined geographic variations) of temperature, rainfall and extreme climate events and their single or collective impacts on various agricultural production (Lasco, et al., 2009).
Climate change is largely attributed to anthropogenic factors which have caused some mo...
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... and feed grains (Nyong, 2008). Higher temperatures can the physiological development of crops such as causing increased respirations, shorter periods of seed formation and reduced biomass production which all result in hastened maturation and reduced crop yields (Adejuwon, 2004). Global warming and drought have affected the change in the incidence and distribution of pests and pathogens which presents challenges for crop management and animal rearing. Moisture and temperature are important elements of climate which determine the occurrence and localization of pests and diseases (Adejuwon, 2004). This is because pests and diseases vectors thrive well in optimum conditions of high temperature and abundant water supply. In this way climate change and global warming has extended the range of distribution of some pests and diseases worsening the plight of farmers.
The plants we grow for food needs specific resources to thrive, which includes the night temperature and enough water. A changing climate could create a lot of problems. Climate change could make it too hot and also make it too cold to grow crops in some areas of the world and also climate change can cause drought, which is made by the unavailability of water for irrigation. Climate change is likely to cause stronger storms and more floods, which will damage the crops. . Latin America and Southern Asia is seeing it in lethal storms and floods whereas Europeans are experiencing it in melting glaciers, forest fires and disastrous heat waves (Pearce, 2006). Deforestation is another anthropogenic factor that is causing climate change because of the need for fossil fuel, agricultural lands are being used. Forests are being burnt down by humans on a daily basis. As agricultural lands becomes less in need of growing population, people extend their space by cutting and clearing forest. The land beneath the forest sometimes tends to be unproductive and lacks the natural chemicals for a growing. The plantation will serve as a source of food for a few years after then the land becomes useless because of its infertility, it nutrients get depleted and used up. Deforestation results in numerous problems such as destruction of our natural resources, ecosystem, wildlife,
Earth’s average temperature has increased about 0.8 degrees Celsius since 1880 and another degree could cause even more problems than there already are. Climate change is an important issue to be aware of because it is real and it affects you and the things around you each and every day. Every day animals lose habitats and die because climate change caused there home to burn, or their food sources started to deplete, etc. Along with these, more and more CO2 is being released into the air due to wildfires burning which is causing the atmosphere to heat even more. With the temperature increasing the oceans will become warmer and evaporation and rainfall patterns will change which will affect humans and animals, because we all work together in a system. There are many consequences of climate change like human health issues, and more animals becoming endangered, but the most important consequence is the rising amounts of wildfires.
Global warming is a major concern among the study of biology. Global warming will lead to drastic changes to Earth. There are so many problems that global warming affects, but the one thing that may be overlooked at times is how global warming will affect local farms leading to a decrease in food supply. New Jersey farms will become greatly affected by global warming causing decrease in food supply in the Mid-Atlantic. At the rate the Earth’s temperature is changing, many people locally will experience differences in the amount of food that is available.
Climate change is a long-term change in regional or global climate patterns. From the mid twentieth century to now, there has mostly been a significant increase in average global temperatures. Climate change is a major issue in the world today, and a lot of people feel very differently about the cause of it. The common argument is whether climate change is a natural occurrence or if the recent increase in temperatures is because of humans. Climate change is a natural cycle in the Earth’s weather.
In order to assess climate change from a security standpoint it is necessary to consider its potential future implications as well as their magnitude for different states and groups. It is clear that everybody will bear the effects of climate change, although the effects will be uneven and disproportionately distributed. States with less adaptive capacity, which can be determined by levels of “human health and food security, self-reliance, governmental capacity and poverty/development” , intensifies their vulnerability to the effects of climate change. The manifestations of climate change in the future ma...
One of the main contributors to anthropogenic climate change is agriculture, which makes this study so vital to understanding and implementing the joined efforts of mitigation and adaptation, as well as policymaking. Three questions that the researchers were hoping to be able to answer at the end of the study were: 1) Do farmers consider mitigation when managing the soil?; 2) What is the prevalence of adaption actin?; and 3) what is the connection, if any, between the perception of climate change risk and mitigation and adaptation actions, respectively?
In the next 40 years the world’s population is predicted to rise to 9 billion, that amount of people living on this planet would put a lot of strain on the agricultural sector, there would be more demand for food and water. According to (Ryan, 2010) Agricultural land loss is a growing problem in most countries and across the globe as our world population increases. One of the major problem affecting the global food supply is global warming. Most people do not know what global warming is and the effect it’s having on our planet. Global warming is the increase in the average temperatures on our planet. It is believed that natural events and human activities are a source of contribution to the increase in global warming and climate change. This is having a lot of impact on food production. As the layer gets compromised by pollutants known to destroy the ozone layer, plants we grow for food may not yield the quantity and quantity. Since global temperatures are increasing and ocean levels are rising, this is already causing drought and floods, just recently we experienced the California drought which, had a major impact on food production in the USA. Also, the more frequent United Kingdom floods have been linked to global warming. Lastly, global warming affects food production ...
Climate Change is any substantial change in climate that lasts for an extended period of time. One contributor to current climate change is global warming, which is an increase in Earth’s average temperature. Plants and animal species throughout the world are being affected by rising temperatures. Many plants are flowering earlier now than they once did; animals, such as the yellowbellied marmot, are emerging from hibernation earlier; and many bird and butterfly species are migrating north and breeding earlier in the spring than they did a few decades ago, all because of slight changes in temperature cues. (Shuster)
Climate change is one of the major issues surfacing earth over the past century. The earth’s temperature has increased over the years leading to detrimental effects on the economic and life sources of people, especially that of agricultural production and livestock. The Merriam-Webster online dictionary (2014), defined climate change as a change in global climate patterns apparent from the mid late 20th century. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC, (2007) predicts that by 2100 the increase in global average surface temperature may be between 1.8° C and 4.0° C. With increases of 1.5° C to 2.5° C, approximately 20 to 30 percent of plant and animal species are expected to be at risk of extinction. Moreover, the IPCC (2007) purported that climate change has severe consequences for food security in developing countries. There are numerous factors that are solely responsible for this change which are both natural and man-made. Climate change has led to a decrease in quality and quantity of plant produce and livestock because of heat stress, drought and an increase in plant and animal diseases.
-How could global warming affect the area and food production? Are there any innovations in the area to help deal with climate change and the increasing scarcity of resources? (such as covered irrigation channels, wind power, reducing carbon footprint…?)
all the time. The greenhouse effect is a natural process that keeps the earth at temperatures that
It is undisputable that climate variability and change are global phenomena, which have become a big challenge to humankind and how they relate to their immediate environment (IPCC, 2013). Climate change is the change in average weather conditions over a long period of time, whereas climate variability is the annual climate fluctuations above or below a long term average value. Though climate change is a relatively new phenomenon exacerbated by human influence, which threatens the livelihoods, different species survival and ecosystem services (Ceballos et al., 2015). However, climate variability has always affected households in the past. Admittedly, as the impacts of climate change are becoming more pronounced, they may have adverse environmental
Floods are perhaps the most serious environmental threat to the fight against hunger, malnutrition, disease and poverty in the study area, essentially because of its impact on agricultural productivity. The study confirms that young adults still take up farming as their major occupation in the rural areas. It showed that the major staple crops of these farmers were cassava, yam and maize; while the most important animals reared were poultry and goats. However mixed farming was the most popular farming system in the region. Important adaptation options being used by farmers include diversifying from farm to non–farm activities, out migration from flood risk zones, adapting through relief materials from government and NGOs, income diversification and construction of embankment and gutters. However, 5% of the farmers did not engage in any form of adaptation strategies. Those who did not use any of the methods considered, described lack of information on appropriate adaptation methods, financial constraints, shortage of labor, poor access to market, lack of access to weather forecast technologies as major constraints to adaptation.
According to the Canada’s Action on Climate Change, Climate change is a long-term shift in weather conditions identified by changes in temperature, precipitation, winds, and other indicators. Climate change can involve both changes in average conditions and changes in variability, including, for example, extreme events. Climate change is one of the biggest crisis in the earth. It will cause a huge damage to the eco-system and human. We are the victims of the climate change. However, we are the one who cause the climate change.
Although systems have been looked at, South Africa is particularly vulnerable to climate change because, amongst other things, a large proportion of the population live in abundance to poverty and have low resilience to extreme weather. With already a low and variable rainfall pattern, predictions testify that by 2050 areas will be experiencing extremely high temperatures in Spring, Summer and some parts of Autumn with Winter experiencing rapidly decreasing temperatures below -65 degrees Fahrenheit. It will also become drier and hotter affecting agricultural production and biodiversity distribution. Saving and conserving fresh water now will ensure that in times of drought and extreme weather, people will have other alternatives to turn to especially with the amount of rainfall to be expected in the adjoining future.