1)What is this report about?

a)This article is about rist

assessment and risk
management used by policy
makers in
regards to creating policies for
the environment.
2)What climate change
vulnerabilities are identified
for your region?
a)Vulnerabilities identified for
Mexico are wildfire-induced
losses for ecosystems. This has
also been caused by current
slash and burn practices.
3)Did they surprise you? Why
or why not?
a)This did surprise me a bit
since in previous units I have
read that Mexico has been
making a conceeded effort in
preserving its ecosystems and
even making earnest attempts
in recovering many of them. I
did not think that slash and
burn practices were as large of
a
problem but can understand
how these practices can get
out-of-hand even when in a
controlled manner just from a
strong gust of wind.
Originally, I assumed that the
large
majority of bushfires occurred
from natural causes.
4)Describe (in your own
words) three adaptation
measures that have been
proposed for
addressing global climate
change in your region.
a)Mexico has laid out a
detailed plan in their SCCP
2014-2018 (Special Climate
Change
Program) document detailing
that their focus will be on
reducing vulnerability of
populations and productive
sectors, preserve and protect
ecosystems and environmental
services, as well as a 30%
greenhouse gas reduction by
the year 2020. In total the
program includes 5 objective,
26 strategies, 199 lines of
action, 77 of which are
dedicated
to climate change adaptation.
Many of Mexico´s
municipalities are affected by
extreme
weather phenomenon annually,
particularly those found in and
around costal cities. Their
current infrastructure cannot
support these natural
bombardments so a primary
objective
is to strengthen and modernize
their response tools. Since a
large part of the loss of
ecosystems is due to
deforestation caused by
wildfires, programs are being
put into action
Discussion Assignment
1. What is this report about?

This report is about the climate change impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability. It evaluates
how patterns of risks and potential benefits are shifting due to climate change. It considers
how impacts and risks related to climate change can be reduced and managed through
adaptation and mitigation. The report assesses needs, options, opportunities, constraints,
resilience, limits, and other aspects associated with adaptation.

2. What climate change vulnerabilities are identified for your region?

Climate change is one of the most devastating problems that humanity has ever faced—and
the clock is running out (Union of Concerned Scientist).

a. Rising temperatures - According to the UN Climate New 2020, the year 2019 was among
the three warmest years on record for the continent. That trend is expected to continue.
African temperatures in recent decades have been warming at a rate comparable to that of
most other continents, and thus somewhat faster than global mean surface temperature

b. Rising sea levels and coastal erosion - There is significant regional variability in sea-level
trends around Africa. Sea-level increase reached 5 mm per year in several oceanic areas
surrounding the continent and exceeded 5 mm per year in the south-western Indian Ocean
from Madagascar eastward towards and beyond Mauritius. This is more than the average
global sea-level rise of 3–4 mm per year ( UN Climate Change News, 27 October 2020).

c. Extreme events - Tropical Cyclone Idai was among the most destructive tropical cyclones
ever recorded in the southern hemisphere, resulting in hundreds of casualties and hundreds of
thousands of displaced. Torrential rains have created further havoc for families in eastern
South Africa after the worst floods in living memory killed more than 400 people and made
nearly 7,000 people homeless.

d. Health impacts – Increases in temperature and changes in rainfall patterns also

significantly affect population health across Africa. Warmer temperatures and higher rainfall
increase habitat suitability for biting insects and the transmission of vector-borne diseases
such as dengue fever, malaria and yellow fever.

In addition, new diseases are emerging in regions where they were previously not present. In
2017, an estimated 93% of global malaria deaths occurred in Africa. Malaria epidemics often
occur after periods of unusually heavy rainfall. In addition, warming in the East African
highlands is allowing malaria-carrying mosquitoes to survive at higher altitudes. (UN Climate
New, 2020)

3. Did they surprise you? Why or why not?

I am not surprised at all, taking to consideration what has been said by climate change
advocates in the past. I now see what they mean when they were saying the ozone layer is
getting thinner and thinner due to our activities, which brings about catastrophic events in our
lives. When I was still young words like tsunami were not there, words like heat waves where
not known to me, even melting of glaziers was a topic I happen to learn in school and I was
taught at school in junior primary. Even the term climate change is new, but it is now popular
because a lot of what the climate change activists are warning us about is happening. Even
drought is another vulnerability that is being witnessed in Africa region.

4. Describe (in your own words) three adaptation measures that have been proposed for
addressing global climate change in your region.

In Africa, most national governments are initiating governance systems for adaptation.
Disaster risk management, adjustments in technologies and infrastructure, ecosystem-based
approaches, basic public health measures, and livelihood diversification are reducing
vulnerability, although efforts to date tend to be isolated.

5. In your opinion, which one is the most important? Why?

Many African nations have committed to transitioning to green energy within a relatively
short time frame. Clean energy and agriculture are, for example, prioritized in over 70% of
African Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to the Paris Agreement. This ambition
needs to be an integral part of setting the economic development priorities of the continent.

One promising approach throughout the continent to reducing climate related risks and
extreme event impacts has been to reduce poverty by promoting socioeconomic growth, in
particular in the agricultural sector. In this sector, which employs 60% of Africa’s population,
value-addition techniques using efficient and clean energy sources are reported to be capable
of reducing poverty two to four times faster than growth in any other sector. When people
start to practice environmental friendly farming and have self-sufficient food supply, chances
are they will stop cutting trees for firewood, people will stop overfishing and unbalancing the
ecosystem.

6. Outline two steps you could take to lower your climate impact

Sensitize policy makers to on the importance to engage youth, universities and other local
groups and leaders to ensure that capacity is developed at the local level and that learning and
sharing of experiences is encouraged to build ownership of the government National climate
action plans (NDCs) and national development plans (NDPs).

Secondly, disseminate the solutions for economic recovery efforts which respond to the
climate emergency and facilitate a transition to a greener, more equitable and sustainable
world. The NDCs and NDPS are essential tools to promote and support such a sustainable
and resilient recovery

Reference
IPCC, 2014: Summary for policymakers. In: Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and
Vulnerability.Part A: Global and Sectoral Aspects. Contribution of Working Group II to the
Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Field, C.B.,
V.R. Barros, D.J. Dokken, K.J. Mach, M.D. Mastrandrea, T.E. Bilir, M. Chatterjee, K.L. Ebi,
Y.O. Estrada, R.C. Genova, B. Girma, E.S. Kissel, A.N. Levy, S. MacCracken,P.R.
Mastrandrea, and L.L. White (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United
Kingdom and New York, NY, USA, pp. 1-32.

Union of Concerned Scientist: https://www.ucsusa.org/climate#.VgUisyhUTnf

UN Climate Change News, 27 October 2020: https://unfccc.int/news/climate-change-is-an-

increasing-threat-to-africa