Climate change has increased global water security issues and made society more vulnerable to natural disasters, according to a new report. International efforts are necessary to curb the most devastating effects.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/H. Sharma
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Securing access to clean water and protection against flooding and tsunamis is critical to safeguarding society against the effects of climate change, according to the 2019 World Risk Report published Thursday by the Institute of International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict at the University of Bochum.
The annual report tracks and ranks catastrophe risks for 180 countries. The index rates a country’s risk of extreme weather, disaster management capabilities, vulnerability and ability to adapt.
Natural disasters as seen from outer space
How do satellites see the Earth? And what do they find out about what's happening down here? Check out these impressive photos of natural disasters to discover for yourself.
Image: NASA
Only tears of sand remain
Earth observation satellites such as the European Space Agency's Proba-V collect daily images that allow for the tracking of environmental changes over time. The images above - taken in April 2014, July 2015 and January 2016 (left to right) - offer crystal-clear insight into the gradual evaporation of Lake Poopo, once Bolivia's second largest lake - due at least in part to climate change.
Image: ESA/Belspo
The beast has awoken
No matter how long volcanoes sleep, they're always in a bad mood when they wake up. The International Space Station was passing overhead when the Sarychev volcano, located in the Kuril Islands of Russia, erupted in 2009. Astronauts were able to snap a picture through a hole in the clouds. From dense ash to clouds of condensed water, virtually all natural phenomena can be examined from outer space.
Image: NASA
Don't play with fire
Every year, wildfires devastate the landscape - and ecology - in numerous countries around the world. Too often, these are caused by humans. This was also the case in Indonesia, where farmers burned peat rainforest areas for agriculture. On the island of Borneo and Sumatra, satellites detected fire hot spots in September 2015, and the plume of grey smoke that triggered air quality alerts.
Image: NASA/J. Schmaltz
German kids misbehaved
In Germany, parents warn their children that if they don't finish their meals, it's going to rain. And indeed, in 2013 it rained, so much that some of central Europe's major rivers overflowed their banks. As shown in this image from 2013, the Elbe burst its banks following unprecedented rainfall. In the photo, muddy water covers the area around Wittenberg, in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt.
Image: NASA/J. Allen
At the eye of the hurricane
A strong storm can cause irreparable damage through intense winds and storm surges from the sea. Space-based information is crucial in following development of such storms: intensity, the direction it's moving, wind speed … in the eastern Pacific Ocean near Mexico, this satellite image helped determine how tropical storm Sandra reached winds of 160 kilometers per hour by November 25, 2015.
Image: NASA/J. Schmaltz
Melting away from under us
Satellites also play a key role in monitoring climate change and, inevitably, the process of melting ice. From space, scientists were able to document how several glaciers around the globe have receded - as well as the subsequent rise in sea level. This photograph, taken from the International Space Station, shows the retreat of the Upsala glacier in Argentine Patagonia from 2002 to 2013.
Image: NASA
Hold your breath!
Dust often covers remote deserts - however, in September 2015, satellites offered this impressive view of Middle East areas enveloped by a dust storm, or haboob, affecting large populated regions. What satellites can observe from space supports air quality sensors on the ground to understand patterns on how the storms start and develop. These findings can improve forecasting methods.
Image: NASA/J. Schmaltz
'Naked mountain'
These are the words NASA used to describe the lack of snow on California's Mount Shasta, a crucial source of water for the region. Images documenting drought over the past years have consistently been showing brown mountains that should be white, and bare earth where people seek water. As ice melts, drought grows.
Image: NASA/R. Simmon
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Increasing occurrences of heat waves, hurricanes, and droughts mean water security is an ever-greater global issue. Water shortages could lead to wars, the 2019 report said.
“Politicians have to act swiftly in developing countries, in particular, to ensure all households have access to clean water,” said Peter Mucke, managing director of Entwicklung Hilft, the coalition that conducted the study. "After instances of extreme weather, the water supply needs to be restored quickly in order to ensure survival and prevent the spread of disease."
Poor families are particularly affected by water shortages. Many do not have running water in their homes and instead send their children to collect it from public stations. This often costs money, meaning the poorest are paying the most for water. It also keeps their children from attending school.
The report identified Oceania, Southeast Asia, Central America, and West and Central Africa as regions at high-risk of natural disasters. It also found that higher risk was closely linked to poverty and inequality.
The tropical island countries Vanuatu, Antigua and Barbuda, and Tonga were the nations most at risk to natural disasters like earthquakes, hurricanes, and rising sea levels. The risk for Vanuatu and Tonga has gone up since last year. Qatar and Malta rank as the countries facing the least at risk, the study found.
Floating homes in Amsterdam
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But the study also pointed out that a high threat of natural disaster does not necessarily put a country higher on the risk ranking. Rising sea levels present a high risk for the Netherlands, for example, but the country’s overall ranking is improved by ability to cope with the potential disasters it faces.
"Without the will of international society to uphold the Paris Climate Agreement, local initiatives like planting mangrove forests to contain coastal erosion or early warning systems and evacuation drills will have only limited success," the authors wrote.
