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NewsDay

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How climate change undermines biodiversity growth

Columnists
THE rising temperatures, harsh weather conditions which include excessive heat, the El Ninos and the La Nina effects, have a strong bearing on the influence of climate change.

THE rising temperatures, harsh weather conditions which include excessive heat, the El Ninos and the La Nina effects, have a strong bearing on the influence of climate change.

guest column: Peter Makwanya

The ongoing droughts, hunger and famine in some parts of the world can strongly be related to climate change and have a strong potential and will power to destroy or undermine biodiversity growth.

Africa, being home to a variety and wide-range wildlife habitats, is likely to be hit hard if the current scenarios continue unabated.

Wild animals in game parks will find it difficult to find grazing pastures or foliage and will also experience water scarcities, which will likely take its toll on their survival wellbeing.

Apart from the menace of poaching, the wildlife now faces one of the strongest obstacles, potentially driven by the natural order of events.

These would be sufficient to cause massive and rapid biodiversity losses if proper mitigation and adaptation strategies are not put in place.

It’s the wildlife which normally improves the picturesque view of some tourist attractions, national parks and game reserves.

In this regard, if these places of interest are hard hit, then there won’t be any tourism to talk about.

As such, creative initiatives like landscaping for animal shelters and hibernation can be instituted by well-wishers, individuals or non-governmental organisations to save the situation.

The harsh climate scenarios will also have significant effects on the ecosystemic growth and survival, where small creatures and animals, which derive their survival from the ecosystem, will not be able to cope.

There are also those species that can migrate afar such as birds, seeking for favourable climate, water and food, which can cope for some time, but in the long run, the wrath of climate change will catch up with them.

The excessive demands for agricultural land and deforestation will also complicate matters in unique ways.

In this regard, it is necessary, as a country and interested stakeholders, to continue putting checks and balances, to guarantee environmental growth and survival.

The topical issue of cutting on greenhouse gas emissions has not been handled sufficiently well by those who set the emission benchmarks and targets, while at the same time they continue to emit more.

Nowadays, it is difficult to talk about how best the endangered species can be saved as the climate monster fast continues to approach.

Yes, indeed, poachers are still there, by and large, but also climate change is threatening to cause more damage and biodiversity losses.

As intense and adverse heat continues to scale to greater levels and unbearable proportions, those underground creatures will come out from their underground habitats, seeking for cooler and favourable environments.

But as for the control of greenhouse gas emissions, it depends with the major polluters themselves, if they want to cut their own emissions, that is how and when they feel like doing so.

The other factor is how the birth rate can be monitored and controlled, because population explosion has an effect on ecosystem growth and environmental sustainability.

It is also important that as the authorities plan on how to manage their environment, they should, indeed, factor in the advent of climate change.

Peter Makwanya is a climate change communicator. He writes in his capacity and can be contacted on: [email protected]