Climate change hits the poorest people the hardest, those living in vulnerable areas with the fewest resources to help them adapt or recover quickly from shocks. As the effects of climate change worsen, escaping poverty becomes more difficult, as it affect crucial segment like food security, health, employment and others. Water availability is a key component of food security, given the reliability of water supplies is perhaps the single most important factor in food production. In general climate change is expected to lead to more precipitation, but much of this increased wetness may not end up where it is most needed. Arid and semi-arid regions are likely to suffer even more reduced rainfall and increased evaporation. In this respect, climate change is an added risk to these regions which have already been undergoing a process of increased desertification and land degradation, caused both by overexploitation and inappropriate land-use as well as general climatic variations. Similarly poo people impacts from the spread of vector borne diseases, particularly malaria and dengue, health problems related to water shortages and those related to under-nutrition. Similarly Loss of land mass in coastal areas due to sea level rise is, for example, likely to lead to greater permanent or semi-permanent displacement of populations, which may have considerable economic and political ramifications. Similarly many more. Please read following artcles:
https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/22787 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO
However all of these articles will reperesent that adaptation to climate change is a priority for ensuring the long-term effectiveness of our investment in poverty eradication and sustainable development.
Any ill effect taking place due to the impacts of climate change, the ultimate sufferer will be the poor. According to me poor will become poorer due to any ill effects due to climate change (flood or drought).
Climate change exacerbates poverty. To appreciate this problem, just refer to the problems faced by the inhabitants of poor island states. With climate change fueling global warming, sea-level rise and hurricanes, individuals resident lose even the little they invest in, increasing the poverty trap.
Certainly the island and coastal people are going to suffer more but poor communities which more depend on natural resources for livelihood are also going to be affected. Their habitat and food will be more difficult. The paradox is that all developed societies are blaming poor developing countries for the climate change due to their population, livestock and agricultural practices!! So they tag more for cause than sufferer of climate change.
Conditions are too hard for the poor and below middle class people, if changes in the climatic features. Their standard of living may be deteriorated. The reasons were explained by the RG friends.
The climate changes will affect agriculture negatively, so will negative impact will increase poverty in societies, the poor people are more vulnerable to CC.
Like it or not, Climate Change is going to affect the most vulnerable communities. The better off even if affected will have the resources & wherewithal to face the challenges and find alternatives.
Very rarely their will be 100% consensus amongst the experts on any of the questions posted on RG. However to this question, everybody (10 out of 10) have expressed the same opinion, without any spec of doubt -- Poor people are the most vulnerable to climate change.
With all due respect, Climate Change, Global Warming, aren't going to do anything in the future, it already has and ongoing! The science behind it is so vast because it affects everything, down to the molecular structure of soil even in non-drought stricken areas. Irrigation in places will only help spread plant viruses which will also destroy crop and will eventually kill people who eat the contaminated food. Water sources will also have to deal with the changes as it becomes more difficult to keep clean and to keep the elements from contaminating it. Flooding is key to destroying clean water sources. Bottomline, without clean water, we have nothing to sustain the world's population explosion, because without clean water we also have no food.
Climate change would cause, among others, reduced fish production and hence income to poor people who eke a living from coastal fisheries and coastal aquaculture. The consequences of climate change in the coastal waters are thermal increase and sea level rise. The thermal increase can cause multiple effects on aquatic organisms including fishes. In coastal areas the increased ambient temperature would interact with other environmental factors and affect all biological functions, notably feeding, growth, reproduction and survival at the extremes.
The coastal and estuarine water level rise as consequences of climate change would in addition cause floods affecting most the poor people living in the region.
Climate change would cause, among others, reduced fish production and hence income to poor people who eke a living from coastal fisheries and coastal aquaculture. The consequences of climate change in the coastal waters are thermal increase and sea level rise. The thermal increase can cause multiple effects on aquatic organisms including fishes. In coastal areas the increased ambient temperature would interact with other environmental factors and affect all biological functions, notably feeding, growth, reproduction and survival at the extremes.
The coastal and estuarine water level rise as consequences of climate change would in addition cause floods affecting most the poor people living in the region.
Climate Change/Global Warming does not just affect poor people. I keep hearing everyone saying that poor people will be affected the most. Stop saying that because it makes people who aren't poor feel like they have nothing to worry about. The truth of the matter is simple, C-2+14z=710Y+409 is the formula that describes a molecular structure just outside the earth's rim that is the control factor that governs the complete particle interchange process of our solar system. It is out of balance and presently reads: C-2+14z=710Y+430. The planet is trying to correct itself and as it does we are going to go through some drastic changes worldwide. It is a domino effect and it includes the extinction of species which begin at the molecular level and right up the food change. So Climate Change/ Global Warming, or whatever you want to call it is going to rid itself of all life. With all the intelligent people in the world, no one is focusing. Our world leaders have taken our attention away from life and have us looking right into our own demise.
Garcia answer is not disputed. However, our concern is more on vulnerability of the two, and our focus is that while the rich may have alternative survival mechanisms -easily relocate, and maybe even to better environments, the poor will not have such a privilege, they will be left with only one recourse for remedy, to adapt or perish. What a limited option!
In addition to thermal rise and possible floods/inundation of coastal and estuarine waters caused by climate change, as pointed out by me above, climate change could also cause increased ingress of saline water from the sea into the estuarine areas/river mouths, which could result in increased salinity penetration into the original freshwater zones in the coastal belt; if the inward flow of saline water is arrested by construction of bunds/dams (as in Thanneermukkam in central Kerala, India) then the natural pattern of water flow and salinity pattern and natural distribution and behaviour of freshwater/saline water organisms, including commercially important fish and crustaceans, would be disturbed. Studies on the freshwater prawn, Macrobrachium rosenbergii, support this observation. As obvious, obstruction by dams/bunds would drastically affect especially the natural migration patterns of aquatic organisms, originally present in the area.
The climate change increases poverty due to drought, floods that will affect agriculture and the ability to adjust to adverse situations of the poorest people in the planet.
Poverty is right now, heaviest burden of all times, since the global economy runs on consumption rather than production! Thus, it will be much worse if the climate changes drives people to alter their life style and to migrate to another unknown locality, of course if they can have those options!
Due to Climate change livelihoods,more so for agri-based economies, are lost leading to low purchasing power, inability to afford education, food, health etc hence more vulnerability .