On October 2nd, according to foreign media reports, charity organization Oxfam has issued a warning that droughts and extreme unstable weather caused by global warming and the "super El Ni ñ o" phenomenon are expected to put at least 10 million impoverished people at risk of hunger in the next two years.
Oxfam points out that in Ethiopia alone, 4.5 million people urgently need food aid. The El Ni ñ o phenomenon and long-term climate change have made the local rainy season difficult to predict, seriously affecting the growth of crops. Moreover, Southeast Asia has not been spared either.
The El Ni ñ o phenomenon is caused by abnormally high temperatures in the Pacific Ocean, which can lead to global climate imbalance, with some regions experiencing severe drought and others experiencing flooding. Oxfam research shows that sustained warming of seawater may double the frequency of the most severe El Ni ñ o phenomenon. This year, this phenomenon is expected to peak between October and January next year, and may even break historical records in intensity. The last "super El Ni ñ o phenomenon" can be traced back to 1997-1998.
Mark Godling, the Director General of Oxfam UK, stated in a statement that "rice and corn production will face a severe crisis, which will have a heavy impact on regions such as southern Africa and Central America that rely on these foods." He called on countries to take immediate emergency action to avoid a global humanitarian disaster next year.
In southern Africa, data from the South African Meteorological Service shows that the hot and dry weather has dealt a devastating blow to crops, with maize production, South Africa's main food crop, plummeting by one-third, and this trend of reduced yields will continue into the southern hemisphere summer. In Zimbabwe, affected by drought, the corn harvest is 35% below average, and the government accuses the agricultural sector of inadequate response, resulting in a halving of the country's economic growth forecast for July.
In Central America, according to a report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, prolonged drought caused a 60% decrease in corn harvest and an 80% decrease in soybean production this year due to El Ni ñ o.
At the same time, the disappearance of rainforests in Indonesia is also a concern. Indonesian President's climate change envoy Weitole revealed that although many forest areas in the country are prohibited from cultivation, 40% of the rainforests in the prohibited areas have disappeared, mainly due to people burning forests to cultivate farmland. During his speech at Surabaya Institute of Technology, Weitole pointed out that Indonesia has lost 40% of its rainforests, including national rainforests, protected area rainforests, and even rainforest areas that have issued a temporary ban on cultivation have not been spared. Nowadays, rainforests in lower altitude areas have basically disappeared, which not only makes the local ecosystem increasingly fragile and carbon emissions increase, but also seriously affects agricultural production.
The problem of rainforest disappearance is mainly concentrated in Kalimantan and Sumatra regions. In addition to human burning forests for cultivation, climate drought is also an important reason for frequent forest fires. Recently, forest fires and haze have once again erupted on the islands of Sumatra and Kalimantan in Indonesia, covering multiple cities. The Indonesian government has declared a state of emergency in six provinces and dispatched thousands of soldiers to assist in firefighting.
A research report published in the journal Nature Climate Change shows that from 2000 to 2012, Indonesia surpassed Brazil to become the country with the most lost tropical rainforests, with an area of 60000 square kilometers, equivalent to the land area of Ireland. Indonesia has the world's third largest rainforest, but it is currently disappearing at a rate of nearly 300 football fields per hour. Palm oil, one of the raw materials for biofuels, has a huge economic benefit of $800 billion, which drives people to cut down rainforests and plant palm trees, further accelerating the disappearance of rainforests.
(Editer：admin)
