Climate Change Adaption by the Ecosystem - Research Paper Example

Climate Change Adaption by the Ecosystem Climate change is one of the important and enduring changes in the statistical allotment of weather patterns over a period of time, either lasting a decade or even millions of years. The climatic change might be the change of average weather conditions or in the distribution of weather around the normal standard conditions. The change in climate might have various factors influencing it like volcanic eruptions, plate tectonics, oceanic circulations and even variation of the solar radiation on earth. These factors are normally induced by nature itself and therefore are beyond human control but there are other factors that usually influenced by the human behavior, these human- induced modification of the natural world will in the end affect the world and its ecosystem. One of the effects of the human-induced factors is the global warming which has been affecting the world today and more so the term climate change has been made to describe the specific activities humans do, that have negative impact on the environment and various ecosystems. Most areas in the world have been affected by the climate change especially Africa and one of the major solutions in combating the climate change is by developing policies that will enhance the climate change adaptation by the ecosystem. According to Smith (1993) and Tol et al. (1997), they explain that the impact of climate change and in extent its seriousness and its dangerousness can in turn be modified in adaptation to various kinds in the ecosystem. Furthermore adaptation is a very important policy option or response strategy to issues pertaining climate change (Frankhauser, 1996; Smith J., 1996). Adaptation and impact to climate change is receiving a lot of awareness as a substitute or corresponding response strategy to plummeting net emission of green house gases which is referred to as mitigation in the environmental community. One of the countries affected by the climatic change is Tanzania specifically in the Pangani River Basin. This region is close to Mount Kilimanjaro which is one of the tallest mountains in Africa and therefore acts as a source of water for the Pangani River Basin. Water is one of the basic components of the ecosystem and in the Pangani River Basin it seems to be getting scarce and scarce. Within a period of 50 years or more one of the major impact of ecosystem change will be mainly the issue of water usage as it is expected the major climatic change which has already began will affect the water catchment area within the basin and also the mountain. According to International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the ice cap of Mount Kilimanjaro has melted considerably and is projected to disappear completely by 2025. With a few cubic metres of water flowing due to climatic change, the fish will be scarce in the water as the levels will be low, this means that fish as a source of food will be nearly extinct in the Pangani River Basin and the water will not be able to sustain life within the region if adequate measures will not be taken.. One of the changes being experienced in the region is the low level of water flow from several hundreds of cubic metres per second to around 40 cubic metres per second. The flow of water will greatly reduce once the ice cap in the Kilimanjaro melts as this means that no more ice is formed in the mountain and hence the mountain as a source of water will be so small to sustain the demand. Since water will be scarce one of the critical areas that will be affected by the water shortage in the River Basin will be farming. Some of the measures that ought to be taken by the individuals and organizations should embark on includes managing the water resources around Pangani River Basin taking into account the impacts of climate change and the freshwater needs of the environment. Furthermore the water management board within the region should allocate water within the limits of the flow of the river included in this is the ecosystems in the basin that store water, regulate flows and support the livelihood around the river basin. One of the parties that would greatly help in implementing the water policies in the region is the Pangani Water Basin Management. The management is responsible for the control of water usage within the Pangani River Basin both for domestic and industrial use. The users from farmers, residents to the fishers around the basin can be educated on the importance of conserving the ecosystem and using it responsibly, this in turn will have more impact on the grass root level as they will be solely responsible for practicing every aspect of conservation. Some of the major people who stand to benefit from the proposed adaptation responses will be residents within the region; this is mainly because they source their food from the farmers within the Pangani River Water Basin and once the farmers practice correct farming and water usage they will be able to sustain the population of people living around the water catchment area and also the whole region. With no food there will be hunger and this will mean that the productivity level in that region will slow and so will development (IUCN 2009). At the same time the farmers, residents and even the fishers within the region will stand to gain once the measures are adopted as each depend on the river for livelihood and in turn this means that once there is controlled usage of resources the supply will be able to match the demand from the whole population. Since the water level is slowly decreasing and the congestion of the little resources remaining is being felt within the Pangani River Basin therefore it will be quite imperative that the measures suggested be implemented with the help of the locals and the organization responsible. The failure to adapt to measure to curb the destruction of the Pangani River Basin will mean that the water flow will greatly reduce and the effects will be catastrophic within a given period of time like twenty or more years. Food will be scarce as no farming will be done, fishing will come to a standstill and furthermore the generation of hydropower from the river will stop. This will have great consequences to the general population in Tanzania. In conclusion, according to IUCN water is the epitome of many climate change impacts and hence it is very vital to many adaptation policies, planning and action. The allocation of water to sustain natural infrastructure, such as wetlands and estuary habitats and the adoption of adaptive governance build adaptive capacity to respond to an uncertain future climate. Reference Frankhauser, S. 1996.: “The Potential Costs of Climate Change Adaptation”. In Smith, J.B., Bhatti, N., Menzhulin, G., Benioff, R., Budyko, M., Campos, M., Jallow, B., and Rijsberman, F. (eds), Adapting to Climate Change: An International Perspective, Springer, New York, pp. 80-96. IUCN (2009): Ecosystem-based Adaptation: a natural response to climate change. The Water and Nature Initiative. Available at: http://www.iucn.org/about/work/programmes/water/ Smith, B. (ed.). 1993: Adaptation to Climatic Variability and Change, Environment Canada, Guelph. Smith, J.B.:1996 ‘Using a Decision Matrix to Assess Climate Change Adaptation’, in Smith, J.B. et al. (eds.). Adapting to Climate Change: An International Perspective, Springer New York, pp. 68-79 Tol, R.S.J., Frankhauser, S., and Smith, J.B.:1997, The Scope for Adaptation to Climate Change: What Can We Learn from the Literature?. Institute for Environmental Studies, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam. United Nations Framework Convention on Climatic Change (UNFCCC): 1992, United Nations Framework Convention on Climatic Change: Text. UNEP/WMO, Geneva Read More