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Jeff Price
Jeff Price
Topic: Climate Change and Biodiversity
Dr. Jeff Price is the Senior Fellow for Climate Change and Biodiversity at UNEP-World Conservation Monitoring Centre in Cambridge, England and assistant professor in the Department of Geological and E...
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Number of questions: [4]
Posted on 29/04/2008 19:29:40
Dr. Price,

I just had a couple of questions that I hope you do not mind answering for me.
What do you think the biggest impact that globe warming has had on the world? Also, do you think that animals and are being more affected be climate change then humans?

Karianne Whitehead
Prairie State College, Chicago Heights, IL
Karianne Whitehead (Prairie State College) (from United States of America)
Karianne,

These are two excellent questions. The first is very difficult to answer. It is almost a question less of what the biggest impact climate change has had rather than will likely have. Climate change has certainly already impacted many species and ecosystems (the subject at hand) but has also either impacted or threatened many human systems as well, especially the poor. The realization of the magnitude of the problem has spurred a great deal of innovation and is stimulating many different parts of the world to rethink the ways things have been done, to develop new technologies for example. Ultimately, climate change may very well lead to major changes in most aspects of life. This is not necessarily a bad thing as many of these technologies and ideas on combating climate change can help to improve an individuals's standard of living. Additionally, efforts to combat climate change can have a tremendous number of co-benefits to improve people's health, clean the environment and, etc. Oil is a limited resource (and we may be past peak oil or rapidly approaching it) so developing alternative energy sources now in response to climate change may avoid a problem in the future.

Your second question cannot be treated in a broad fashion. In some parts of the world animals have been more affected and in others humans have been. Coral reefs, polar regions, and cloud forests are areas where climate change has clearly impacted plant and/or animal species. However, some low-lying areas, and the people that live there, are already being affected by sea-level rise or water shortages that can be linked back to climate change. In general, natural systems and the poor are both thought to have low adaptive capacity - in other words, the abiltiy to adapt to climate change endogenously (by themselves). So, there will continue to be impacts on both human and natural systems increasing with greater amounts of climate change.

Posted on 29/04/2008 11:41:24
Dear Jeff,

Climatic Change is about pollution and more so pulp pollution in large facilities especially in Webuye Kenya where there is a large paper production facility polluting the air whith supher and water with Mecury among many metals. What does UNEP do with such kind of pollution?. I can be found through oumaodhiambo@gmail.com

Regards
Odhiambo Maurice Ouma (from Kenya)
Thank you for your concern. While climate change is about pollution it is very specific types of pollution. Combating climate change can have co-benefits in terms of air pollution and combating air pollution can have co-benefits in terms of climate change. The Government of Kenya does have a National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) that can be contacted about issues such as this. Their website is at http://www.nema.go.ke . UNEP does have a clean technologies section but we respond only to country level issues at the request of the government.

Posted on 29/04/2008 09:28:36
Testing
Testing (from Kenya)
answering

Posted on 29/04/2008 05:54:23
What strategies do you propose for educating policy-makers in your area of specialization ?
Centre for Environment Education (from India)
There are many different things at many different levels. UNEP works to educate their own staff at various levels as to climate change impacts, adaptation and mitigation in a series of workshops. UNEP also works with the negotiators of the climate change protocols to make sure they are kept up to date with what is known about the field. There are ongoing efforts in the EU to offer training directly to policy-makers and I often give public lectures and speak directly to policy-makers.

Climate literacy is an important part of helping solve the issue of climate change. If people want to know what the issues are and what cn be done then groups like UNEP, or perhaps like the Center for Environment Education, need to find the expertise to provide the education.

    
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