Economic impacts of climate change on developed and developing nations

Climate Change

Effects of Climate Change

Economic effects of global climate change

In this paper, we will discuss the economic effects of global climate change on rich as well as poor countries. Our emphasis will be on the point that the rich countries might have a difficult time but they can manage with the situation whereas the poorer countries will be impacted the hardest. Firstly let's review some of the facts regarding the global climate change phenomena and then we'll focus on our main topic.

Effect on nations

Let's first look at how the rich nations will cope with this crisis, in Southern Europe the change in climate will raise drought levels and temperatures of the whole region which is already very fragile to climate variability. This will reduce the availability of fresh water, summer tourism, potential of hydropower and the crop productivity of nations such as Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece. In Central Europe there is increasing health risk because of the heatwaves which are projected to rise. The overall forest productivity will also decline. Here, the rich nations of Europe have the advantage of their financials, they can plan in advance on investing on new technology which can help in bringing them fresh water from the seas, this can greatly reduce their fresh water problem.

Europe can also use nuclear power or gas power to fuel their economies and can reduce their dependency on hydropower whose potential might decline due to the climate change. Since almost all of Europe and the U.S. enjoy the best healthcare services available in the world today therefore any health risk coming from the climate change can be dealt with relative ease. In U.S. The warming may decrease snowpack in western mountains which can bring in flooding, this can be dealt with advance warning systems some of which are already in place today. Many cities in the Northern American hemisphere are thought to suffer from extreme heat and pollution, here the government can help in incrementing plantation process at city levels by increasing parks. It can also help to advice its citizens on how to deal with climate related issues through advertising and can even save many lives.

Overall, the rich economies might suffer but their financials can help them in lowering the impact of this crisis.

Now, let's have a look at the poor nations and how they will deal with this situation. Africa is regarded as one of the most underdeveloped continents on earth, the per capita income of an average person here is mere $4,000, the Sub-Saharan region here is widely regarded as one of the most malnourished, underdeveloped and poor in the world. Effects of global climate change are predicted to cause severe problems here, according to an estimate by the year 2020 some 75 to 250 million individuals living in Africa will be exposed to severe water shortages. "Since the economies of the region are weak and corrupt therefore they do not seem to have any answer to the upcoming challenges so far." (Brown, 2001).

Here, the deserts are thought to increase by size and droughts are projected to widespread even more causing a mass migration process from the people from one area to another. Africa is also threatened from the rising sea levels which can affect many coastal areas consisting of large populations.

In Asia, the glaciers melting at Himalayas is projected to severely increase the threat of flooding, there is also reports of increased activities of rock avalanches. All of this is though to affect the fresh water resources severely within the next twenty or thirty years. The Central, Eastern, South and Southeastern regions of Asia are projected to suffer from severe drought which can affect over a billion people by 2050. Many economies of this region are still in a growth phase therefore this crisis is thought to put a severe challenge on the Asian nation's resources as well as financials. The crop yields are thought to decrease by 30 in central as well as south Asian region whose economies are heavily dependent on agriculture. Also the coastal areas of Southeastern Asia are predicted to be at the risk of extreme flooding.