Everywhere, across the globe one can begin to see the effects of climate change, specifically with regards to weather patterns. Globally, the meat and diary industry are reeling in the wake of climate change as well, despite these sectors contributing and accounting for about 13% to 18% of global greenhouse gas emissions. This is mainly caused by humans due to deforestation and the emissions linked to raising animals.
So how exactly are these sectors affected by climate change?
Increased drought, storms and flooding has caused massive revenue loss. The Australian Agriculture earlier this year released a statement where it’s mentioned that they’ve lost around $72 mil, largely due to the effects of drought and floods. South African poultry producer RCL Foods. warned it could see profits hit by irrigation restrictions linked to droughts.
What is the effect of climate change in a South African context?
In a governmental report released earlier this year, bold and very disturbing predictions were made for the turn of the century. According to the report, temperature increases of 6 degrees Celsius by the turn of the century. We have already seen an increase in extreme weather conditions over the past few years with the intensity of rainfall in some parts and prolonged dry spells in other parts.
What should be done about this?
It should be advised that we should not panic about the situation. Despite the situation being quite bad, there is yet an opportunity to mitigate the potentially disastrous effects of climate change. The government has come up with the NCASS framework which is a nine-step programme that will be implemented to reduce the damage of climate change.
