Climate Change: Yet Another Divide in the Gender Inequality Gap

 Often a commonly overlooked factor, but one that is vital in the road to finding a solution,

Climate change poses a great challenge to marginalized and vulnerable groups all around

the world. Backed by data and analytics, it has been proven time and again that women, like

in many situations, are the ones that suffer the most from this ongoing crisis. However, almost

all non profit groups and foundations tend to ignore this connection in their fight to close the

gender gaps in economically challenged countries. Nevertheless, Climate change and gender

inequality are tied by intricate strings, and perhaps the solution to one or both problems can

be found by exploring these connections. 

Climate change, often referred to as a “threat multiplier” affects the lives of low income girls and women, who often have to support their whole families. In many countries, women are in charge of securing food, fuel and water whilst taking care of big families. Not having a stipend to rely on, many of these women turn to agriculture and what little money they can make from it. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, women produce up to 80% of food in developing countries. However, agriculture is not a reliable source of income as it is affected by external factors such as drought, rainfall and plagues, many of which are caused by climate change. Families face harsh times with no viable solutions, and often girls have to drop out of school to help support their families. The World Bank estimates that around 122 million girls worldwide are not enrolled in schooling, and whilst enrollment rates are almost the same for boys and girls (92% and 90% accordingly), completion rates for girls are much lower than boys in low income countries. This, of course, will affect girls’ lifes tremendously, leaving them even more vulnerable to child marriage, a horrible and common situation with 28 girls worldwide every minute being victim to these practices;  moreover it increases the possibilities of human trafficking, sexual abuse, and with almost no possibility of securing a steady job later on in their lives. 

Likewise, the climate change crisis escalates social, political and economical tensions, in already precarious  communities. As climate change continues to pave divides and cause conflicts worldwide, women and girls continue to face increased vulnerabilities of all forms of gender-based violence. Climate change and disasters also affects women’s health directly, as it limits access to healthcare centers and reduces mobility. An already long journey to a small clinic is made impossible after climate disasters impact the community. Research has also indicated that the extreme heat waves caused by climate change increases chances of stillbirth, which poses a great risk to mothers that have no access to trained professionals and sterilized settings. Additionally, climate change escalates the spread of vector-borne diseases and illnesses such as malaria, dengue and the Zika virus which greatly affect maternal and neonatal outcomes. 

Nevertheless, even after countless studies and researches, humanitarian programmes still opt to continue treating these crises in completely different ways. They adapt houses with solar panels, sell hybrid cars, and educate girls in low income countries about the effects of marrying young. Of course these are all viable and efficient solutions that should continue to be implemented and taken into account, but there are still gaps in the realization of the connection between climate change and gender inequality. A problem with this magnitude that encompasses social and environmental dimensions should be tackled as it is, a never ending cycle that endangers those that are already the most vulnerable. Viable solutions can include promoting decision-making on women, training them on climate planning and instructing them on what to do should a crisis hit. More complex and expensive solutions consist of improving renewable energy sources and technologies in vulnerable communities which would greatly reduce the time women spent on traditional fuel collection. 

In conclusion many more solutions can be found and implemented to solve these problems as a whole, rather than treating them as separate issues. Applying these solutions into practice will greatly improve women and girl’s quality of life in marginalized communities, and if executed in a long term manner may reduce the effects of climate change worldwide. 

Bibliographical List:

https://www.fao.org/family-farming/detail/en/c/1634537/

https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/girlseducation

https://www.ohchr.org/en/women/child-and-forced-marriage-including-humanitarian-settings#:~:text=One%20in%20every%20five%20girls,is%2028%20girls%20every%20minute.

https://www.unwomen.org/en/news-stories/explainer/2022/02/explainer-how-gender-inequality-and-climate-change-are-interconnected

By: Antonia Escobar

¨Dear future generations: Imagine¨

Dear future generations, imagine for a second huge lands burned out by us into gray clouds

and hugging our sky until slowly burning ourselves again. This is the story of how it all

began. 

Climate change skeptics say that human-caused CO2 emissions don't have an effect, while scientific research shows a worrying increase in temperature since the 20th century. Everything points to the second industrial revolution between 1880 and 1914, where large machines began to replace man's work, feeding his ambition to have it all. 

It's true that within its 4.5 billion years of history, planet earth has experienced periods of time of lesser and greater warmth, but this shift in temperature has been determined by the distances of earth and the sun, while greater distance has resulted in colder cycles, short distance led to warmer periods. But in the late 20th century, when scientists started looking at how temperatures have changed over time, they observed a much faster rate of planetary warming from the 1980s than had previously been recorded.

By trapping heat from the sun, greenhouse gases have kept Earth's climate habitable for humans and millions of other species. But those gases are now out of balance and threaten to change drastically which living things can survive on this planet (Nunez, 2019). Some of the main greenhouse gases affecting our planet are: carbon dioxide, methane and industrial gases. 

But, if they used to make earth the planet we know, what is the problem? The main problem is that they trap heat warming the planet more than it should be, but they also contribute to respiratory diseases caused by smog and air pollution. All of these causes extreme weather, disruptions to the food supply, and increased wildfire, meaning that. the typical weather patterns we are used to will change, some species will disappear, others will migrate or grow. 

It's incredible how for thousands of years nature has regulated the concentration of those gases making earth a habitable place, and how we interfered with the planet’s atmospheric balance by burning fossil fuels resulting in a sharp rise of unnatural co2 emissions is unacceptable. 

But after all the damage we have caused, our mortality makes us want to reduce greenhouse gases emissions, how can we do it? As the world evolves, we discover many other ways to do things better, one of those is finding new alternatives in order to evolve away from fossil fuels and replace them with renewable energy. The thing is, we have already discovered them, but the ambitiousness is hunting us because people want more and more, people want gold, petroleum, money and power. The desire of power is blinding us to take action, which makes me ask myself, do we really prefer power over life?

How disappointing it could be as the human race, distinguished for our sensibility and consciousness, to be acting with ego and killing ourselves? It is true that in order to see the change we would have to convince first big countries leading the damage, but our way of thinking also affects our actions. “Why should I make the difference if the ones that should be doing it are not?”. Twenty countries are responsible for at least three-quarters of the world's greenhouse gas emissions, with China, the United States, and India leading the way, and together we are a country, a continent, a planet. 

The good news is that there are in fact many people wanting to change the statistics and give humanity another chance. Countries around the world acknowledged this reality with the Paris Climate agreement of 2015, and thanks to technology, the world technically has one fifth of the carbon budget. So, our hopes now rely on some way of adopting methods of sucking co2 from the sky. Those include planting trees, conserving existing forests and grasslands, and capturing CO2 from power plants and factories, but mainly, we have to return to the essence of being humans, taking care of our planet rather than dominance. 

Bibliographic references: 

• Nunez, C. (2019, May 13th ). Carbon dioxide levels are at a record high. Here’s what you need to know. Environment. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/greenhouse-gases 

• BBC News. (2021, October 25th ). Climate change: How do we know it is happening and caused by humans? https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-58954530 

• Ramage, D. (2023, November 27th ). Adjusting for humanity’s fingerprints. Edinburgh Impact | The University Of Edinburgh. https://impact.ed.ac.uk/research/climate-environmental-crisis/adjusting-for-humanity-s-fingerprints/ 

By: Sarah Naranjo

The World Health Organization and its prioritization of Climate Change and Health systems

In the wake of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, there is a renewed

understanding, from political leaders to the people they serve, of the centrality of health and

well-being to social and economic development. Although the health and other related

Sustainable Development Goals are badly off track, new national and international capacities

and commitments can be harnessed to revitalize action on the Goals original ambition and to

equip health systems to meet the expectations of their populations and the emerging

challenges of the post-Sustainable Development Goals world. The four-year period from 2025

to 2028 constitutes a unique opportunity to advance health equity and get the health-related

Sustainable Development Goals back on track, while "future-proofing" health systems.

Realizing this ambition will require a common, global health agenda and joint work across a

broad group of stakeholders in support of government action.

Climate change has not been a distant threat for many years and everyday we are confronted with the consequences of the irresponsible choices made by our generation and those before us regarding the well-being of the planet, several “solutions” given by the United Nations World Health Organization have not been addressed by the people. It is required a more ambitious focus on how this issue is affecting global health. The urgency of the situation has led the World Health Organization to develop  a General Programme of Work (GPW 14), it is a medium-term strategy agreed by the member states (MS) to set an agenda highlighting, planning, monitoring and evaluation of this health programme. “ Building on the strengths of the Thirteenth General Programme of Work, and recommendations from the Evaluation of GPW 13, the overarching vision for GPW 14 is to promote, provide and protect the health and well-being of all people, everywhere.” Is what the World Health Organization states to the public.

The United Nations and World Health Organization, among other global institutions, have provided guidelines and strategies aimed at mitigating the harmful effects of climate change, but these measures have often fallen short due to a lack of comprehensive action and political will. The effectiveness of this given general programme of work is at the stake of the member states that need to compromise to ensure the engagement of this goals, what is needed it is a stronger international cooperation for these paramount issues that affect every single living thing, The program ensures that all the relevant targets are met and if necessary the adjustments of strategies. Public awareness is crucial since the most effective way of achieving the designated goals is by teaching everyone about the near future that climate changing will bring. The World Health Organization is prioritizing two key areas, people around the world need to be assured of protection given the circumstances that are presented, strengthening health systems is necessary to fight the growing health threats posed by climate change. The system would also benefit the environment.

In conclusion, these topics should be discussed all throughout the international community, it can not be accomplished without the support of everyone around the world, to strengthen the General Programme of Work 14. We have seen examples of how these programmes made by the United Nations committees are not always effective but it is important to know that as the world faces increasingly complex health threats, the strategic goals set out in GPW 14 are essential for guiding global health efforts towards a healthier and more sustainable future for all.

If you do not change, the world will not change.

Bibliographic References:

https://www.who.int/about/general-programme-of-work/fourteenth

https://www.georgeinstitute.org/our-impact/policy-and-recommendations/submission-on-the-14th-who-general-programme-of-work-gpw14

https://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/EB154/B154_28-en.pdf

By: Carla Rengifo

¨A very personal statement of the Earth´s state¨

  

To say humans have permanently altered the Earth's natural state and way of functioning forever, would be an understatement. Because we didn't just do that, we also condemned the future generations to precarious oxygen conditions, lack of natural resources, and uninhabitable environments. 

To everyone reading this essay,  let me present to you: The Greenhouse Effect.

´´From shifting weather patterns that threaten food production, to rising sea levels that increase the risk of catastrophic flooding, the impacts of climate change are global in scope and unprecedented in scale¨ 

The greenhouse effect is a natural process that warms the Earth's surface. When the sun's energy reaches the Earth, some of it is reflected back to space, and the rest is absorbed and re-radiated by greenhouse gasses, such as carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and water vapor. These ones are in charge of  trapping heat in the atmosphere, creating a "greenhouse" effect that keeps the Earth's temperature at a level necessary to sustain life. However, since the 1800´s , human activities are particularly the ones who have been in charge of potentiating this phenomenon. Via burning of fossil fuels and deforestation, we have significantly increased the concentration of these gasses, leading to , even more, global warming and climate change. 

The harsh reality we now face upon climate change is the around 30 billion tonnes of CO2 that are emitted into the atmosphere every year. Which doesn´t seem to be very harmful at first sight,  until we start to analyze with detail, even the simplest ways this affects us all in our daily lives, 

Satellites measure less heat escaping out to space, at the particular wavelengths that CO2 absorbs heat, thus finding "direct experimental evidence for a significant increase in the Earth's greenhouse effect".

This translates to the overheating of the Earth's surface because of all of the heat that cannot escape into space, being held inside the atmosphere, and corrupting the air´s natural cycle which is confirmed by measurements showing increased downward infrared radiation. 

Shown as dangerous CO2 wavelengths, this radiation is particularly notable supporting the link between greenhouse gas increases and global warming. And among the various effects of the warming patterns that are produced by an enhanced phenomenon are problematics like Faster warming at night compared to the day, Cooling in the upper atmosphere (stratosphere), Rising of the tropopause (boundary between the troposphere and stratosphere), Cooling and contraction of the ionosphere, decrease of oxygen in the atmosphere and increase of fossil fuels in the mentioned, leading to more frequent and severe weather events, such as hurricanes, droughts, and heatwaves. Melting polar ice caps and glaciers are causing sea levels to rise, threatening coastal communities. And as if it wasn´t enough, ecosystems are being disrupted, with many species facing extinction due to changing habitats and climate conditions, this one including fauna and flora worldwide level speaking. 

Understanding all of this, inspired me to look up the ways to mitigate the impact of the greenhouse effect, because surprisingly enough, we are not too late! and during this exhaustive research, i found out that several strategies can be implemented. 

Collectively speaking, the most critical approach is reducing greenhouse gas emissions; this can be achieved by transitioning from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources like wind, solar, and hydropower. These clean energy sources do not emit CO2 and have the potential to meet global energy demands sustainably. Additionally, improving energy efficiency in industries, buildings, and transportation can significantly lower emissions. 

Starting on a more personal level, the household appliances that qualify for a sustainable energy consumption should be replaced as soon as possible, things as simple as energy saving light bulbs, up to more complex installations like solar panels, all help in transforming our spaces into Eco-friendly environments. 

Another vital solution is enhancing natural carbon sinks, such as forests, which absorb CO2 from the atmosphere. Reforestation and afforestation projects can help sequester carbon, while also preserving biodiversity and improving air quality. Protecting existing forests from deforestation is equally important, as trees play a crucial role in regulating the Earth's climate.

Finally, public awareness and education are essential in addressing the greenhouse effect. Individuals can make a difference by adopting sustainable practices, but even a bigger impact, if they use their voices to echo this message, and bring attention to such an important matter. 

In conclusion, the only way to act up and repair our previous mistakes, is to understand the complexity of these ones. The power of individual action is the first step to team working into the big change we want to achieve by the next few years. The responsibility to address this problem, and amend our past  lies with all of us, and the time to act is now. By making conscious choices today, we can work toward a more sustainable future.

By: Gabriela De La Rosa

Artículo de Una Monografía Feminista

 Luchando por la Visibilidad: Organizaciones Feministas en los Medios 

“La nueva fuente de poder no es el dinero en manos de pocos, sino la información en manos de muchos” - John Naisbitt

La experiencia de trabajar con organizaciones feministas fue enriquecedora. Conocer el porqué luchan y los desafíos que encuentran diariamente para alcanzar el reconocimiento, en una sociedad en la que actualmente la palabra “feminismo” resuena cada vez con más fuerza. 

Los medios de comunicación son fundamentales al momento de difundir las necesidades de las mujeres, las cuales son relevantes para todos como sociedad y es importante que al momento de informar, se tengan en cuenta también los desafíos que afrontan las mujeres y los movimientos feministas en busca de una voz en los diversos medios. 

Aunque en el pasado la necesidad de avanzar en temas de género era más latente, se encontró en la investigación que en lo mediático se ha visto un avance en cuanto a la representación, siempre recalcando de parte de las organizaciones y de los periodistas que aún se pueden realizar esfuerzos para que la voz del feminismo sea algo más recurrente en medios de información. De igual forma se resaltan los esfuerzos de los medios para traer a colación temas sobre feminismo y el impacto que tienen sobre las personas, aparte del poder que tienen sobre la percepción de ciertos temas polémicos.

En una era en la que el público habla de feminismo, los medios juegan un papel crucial al amplificar las voces de las mujeres y las minorías, cuestionando las estructuras de poder establecidas y promoviendo un diálogo inclusivo. 

Por Justine Sierra Mendoza, Step 11