A study released on Friday revealed that millions of poor are at risk of losing their homes due to climate change. The report claimed that by 2050, many areas of Africa and South Asia may become inhospitable due to rising temperatures and greater risk of drought.
The main concern with climate change is that rising temperatures may make growing crops increasingly difficult, if not impossible. Staples such as rice, corn and wheat do not grow as well when the temperature rises above 30 degrees Celsius ( 86 degrees Fahrenheit ), and this has a serious impact when millions are already struggling to feed themselves.
The report, produced by the Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) program, suggested that countries need to supply farmers with drought or flood resistant crops and may also need to invest in mass migration. The countries most at risk were those with shorter growing seasons, growing populations, and entrenched poverty.
It is important for the United States to act quickly in terms of increasing poverty-related funding. If we do not act now, the conditions of millions of people already living in poverty will only worsen. By supplying aid to countries in need, the U.S. will also be serving its own interests - strengthening the infrastructure of the countries in question can alleviate the pressures of climate change and prevent large-scale migration of people to other countries, such as the U.S. Call your local congressional leader and tell them that you would like to see them support poverty focused-aid.
- Michael Kan
SOURCE: AlertNet
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