Environmental justice and harm to humans - Environmental Harm: An Eco-justice Perspective - page 46

Global warming describes the rising of the earth's temperature over
a relatively short time span, while climate change describes the inter-
related effects of this rise in temperature: from changing sea levels
and changing ocean currents, through to the impacts of temperature
change on local environments that affect the endemic flora and fauna
in varying ways (for instance, the death of coral due to temperature
rises in sea water or the changed migration patterns of birds) (White,
2011; Lever-Tracy, 2011). The context of global warming, declining
oil resources and food crises puts even more of the world's ecological
and economic burdens on the backs of the poor. As Shiva (2008: 5-6)
observes:
First, they are displaced from work; then they bear a
disproportionate burden of the costs of climate chaos
through extreme droughts, floods, and cyclones; and then
they lose once more when pseudo-solutions like industrial
biofuels divert their land and their food. Whether it is
industrial agriculture or industrial biofuels, car factories
or superhighways, displacement and forced evictions of
indigenous peoples and peasants from the land are an
inevitable consequence of an economic model that creates
growth by extinguishing people's rights.
When it comes to climate change, there is a major rift between those
countries most contributing to global warming and those most at
risk from its effects. In a nutshell, 'Many nations facing rising oceans,
increased droughts, or extreme disasters are those least responsible
for the problem and with the lowest levels of resources available to
cope with the resultant challenges' (Anguelovski and Roberts, 2011:
19). The problems are compounded by a combination of population
growth and geographical location. For example, a growing proportion
of both the world's total population and its urban population also lives
in low elevation coastal zones, a trend that is particularly evident in
the developing countries of Africa and Asia.
Those who are most vulnerable to the effects of climate change are
the same groups who are vulnerable to events such as droughts, floods
and cyclones. The conventional approach to disasters is to see them
as 'natural' (and to include such things as earthquakes, volcanoes and
floods) or human-caused (relating to fires, explosions and oil spills)
(see Picou et al, 2009). In the context of major global changes in
climate, biodiversity and pollution, this presumption may no longer