In the Race Against Climate Change, Ecosystems are Key: Op-Ed

Climate change is testing our planet to the limit, with every single ecosystem, from forests to farmland, facing its own unique challenges. Even if countries around the world succeed in the global effort to stop average temperatures rising more than 2°C, massive changes to our lives and environment are unavoidable.

 

Some of these changes can already be seen. In Afghanistan, for example, where it has warmed 1.8°C since the 1950s, glaciers in the Hindu Kush are melting and floods and droughts are getting worse. The impact of these changes is significant and is being felt most by those who rely on natural resources for their livelihoods — farmers and pastoralists.

 

So, while countries around the world must continue to reduce carbon emissions as quickly as possible, we also need to find ways to adapt to what is already becoming the “new normal”.