Pakistan is repeatedly hit hard by rainfall and flooding. action medeor/Emmanuel Guddu Info Pakistan is repeatedly hit hard by rainfall and flooding. action medeor/Emmanuel Guddu Global warming The effects of climate change are becoming ever clearer: the countries that have contributed the least are particularly hard hit: Countries of the Global South. Since the middle of the 20th century, changes in extreme weather events have been increasingly observed - including a rise in high temperatures, rising sea levels and an increase in heavy rainfall events in various regions. And the risk is increasing: further greenhouse gas emissions mean that global warming will continue - and with it the risk of severe and inextricable impacts on people and ecosystems. Since 1950 changes in the global climate system have increased enormously. 2023 was the world's warmest year since measurements began in 1850. 81 percent of global emissions are emitted by the G20 countries (primarily the USA, China and the EU). Diseases are spreading Climate change is already having a significant impact on people's health. Diseases such as malaria or dengue fever are spreading - together with the mosquitoes that transmit them - to areas where they were previously not native. For example, the mosquito species Aedes aegypti, which transmits dengue fever, has already expanded its habitat beyond the tropical regions of the world to southern Europe and Australia. The rise in temperatures and the increase in heatwaves themselves are also having a negative impact on people's health and even causing deaths. People with cardiovascular diseases, young children and the elderly are particularly at risk. Hunger and lack of clean drinking water Rising temperatures and associated droughts destroy harvests and lead to hunger and a lack of safe drinking water - the consequences are evident in East Africa, for example, where droughts and floods are on the rise. Droughts cause animals to die and crops to wither, and the methods previously practised in agriculture and livestock farming are no longer sufficient to feed families. Undernourishment is a particular threat to people who rely on home-grown food, i.e. mostly the poorest people, who also do not have reserves to bridge emergencies. Natural disasters In addition to heatwaves and drought, climate change also brings other dangers: weather-related natural disasters are becoming more frequent and causing increasingly severe damage. The risk of these natural disasters increases with the vulnerability of people and their environment as well as their ability to adapt and prepare for the changes. In addition to these individual weather events, some of which can cause severe damage, climate change also causes long-term damage, the consequences of which are sometimes difficult to assess. Rising sea levels, loss of biodiversity and ocean acidification are causing irreversible losses of habitats and resources in some cases. El Nino & climate change El Niño is a climate phenomenon that occurs every few years and causes a weakening of the trade winds. This causes critical weather changes in many countries in the southern hemisphere. In conjunction with the climate crisis, this has led to the world's highest temperatures since weather records began being measured in 2023. Worldwide, this led to heavy rainfall, landslides and flooding, as well as heat and extreme drought. The consequences: Food and water are becoming scarce, while infectious diseases such as dengue fever, cholera and malaria are spreading. The whole world is affected It is usually the people in the poorest regions of the world who suffer the most from these diverse consequences of climate change. In most cases, they do not have the resources to adequately protect themselves from extreme weather events such as floods or storms. The livelihoods of entire families are often destroyed by a single storm. This applies to south-east Africa, for example: on the coasts of Tanzania, Kenya, Mozambique and Madagascar, cyclones may be accompanied by higher wind speeds and rainfall in the future - and thus become even more destructive. What such a cyclone can do in this region was already demonstrated by Cyclone Idai in 2019. Climate change is already having an impact not only in Africa, but in all regions of the world. For Europe, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts rising temperatures in all regions. Extreme heatwaves will occur even more frequently and endanger people's health. In addition to the heat, heavy rainfall events and flooding will also become more frequent. Climate change has also long been making itself felt in our project countries in Asia and Central and South America. Your donation helps! As part of our project work, we work with local partner organizations to improve the health, nutrition and hygiene situation of families and make them more resilient to future disasters. In various projects, action medeor is committed to empowering the poorest population groups in particular. In Somalia action medeor works with the local organization WARDI to train smallholder farmers in new farming methods and techniques adapted to climate change in order to secure the livelihoods of families and prevent malnutrition. In health projects people are educated on the prevention of diseases such as malaria and patient care is improved. action medeor is also active in the area of water and sanitation together with local partners in various countries to reduce the spread of water-related diseases such as cholera. We are also on hand to provide life-saving first aid in the event of climate-related disasters such as storms and floods: medical supplies, tents and blankets as well as food and clothing are urgently needed in such cases. Support us with your donation! Donate health Your donation enables us to provide medical care to people in crisis and disaster regions. Donate now