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Global warming threatening traditional medicine
2005-05-25 08:43:07
By Deodatus Mfugale
It rained heavily in May in our village. Usually, March is the month of the year that we experience heaviest rainfall.
Hence its named Mdope, muddy. For two years now the peasants have failed to predict the seasons and have been caught unaware by the changes.
Something else happened last year, which surprised many people. The mango trees started to produce flowers in May, three months earlier than what used to be.
Traditionally, the trees flowered in July, at the earliest, and the fruits would be ready by November. The situation has changed now.
These are but some of the effects of global warming and climate change that, however, sometimes do not appeal to the interests of many scientists and environmentalists.
Discussions and studies on global warming and climate change have often focused on extreme impacts such as droughts and floods while forgetting the gradual impacts on livelihoods,particularly in Africa.
Global warming which is now evident in many countries in the continent has brought with it a set of impacts to the continent`s fragile ecosystem that threatens the livelihoods of many people in the continent.
``And without significant new resources , millions of people won’t be able to adapt to changes that are already happening,``explained Dr Anthony Nyong from the University of Nigeria , during a recent scientific symposium on Stabilization of Greenhouse Gases held in England.
But the impacts of global warming would go further than that. Many people, particularly the poor , would be unable to treat ailments due to the disappearance of some plant species used in traditional medicine.
In countries like Tanzania where there are villages that don’t have a medical facility or have to walk scores of kilometers to get treatment, traditional medicines from plants still play a major role in people’s health.
According to the World Health Organization, 80 per cent of the world’s population in developing countries rely on various plant species for primary health care.
Generally these are the poorest of the poor who live in marginal environments and in areas with low agricultural productivity. These are the people who depend on the ecosystem diversity for their survival.
Under the circumstances, any impact that climate change has on natural systems threatens their livelihoods and health of the people.
Many people in developing countries are already facing scarcity of firewood and water. With the rise in global warming the scarcity will be more acute and well above current shortages caused by deforestation and farming.
And as in other cases of environmental degradation, women and girls will have to bear the burden arising from global warming and climate change.
It will be more difficult now to collect firewood or to fetch water as those who are traditionally assigned this role, women and girls, will have to walk longer distances.
Some girls might find it difficult to attend school and so drop out or never see the inside of a classroom at all.
With global warming, some areas will experience floods more often. In some places there will be extreme drought conditions while others temperatures will soar. All these conditions will lead to a conducive environment for transmission of diseases.
In some parts of the continent the number of people who are at risk to contract malaria, for example, might double within the near future.
This will have a telling effect on the fragile economies of most of the African countries since resources will have to be diverted away from economic projects to maintain people’s health.
However the solution to these problems lies in speeding up efforts to cut down greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, significantly reducing annual GHG emissions throughout the world.
GHG are the major factor behind global warming.
To achieve this reduction countries will have to shift from an economy predominantly based on fossil fuels to one based on efficiently managed low-carbon energy sources.
In doing so the countries will not only be addressing the challenge of global climate change but they will also improve public health by reducing air pollution.
The achievement of this transition depends on both short term and long term actions by governments.
With the former, it is important to take advantage of current opportunities and technologies.
With the latter, governments have to make substantial investments now for future technologies that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Experts have said that in order to address climate change, the goal should be to stabilize the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide at twice its pre-industrial level.
Yet in view of the global demand for energy, the goal can only be met if an increase of about 100 to 300 per cent of the current primary power consumption will have to come from non- carbon dioxide emitting sources.
A future low-carbon economy will require widespread use of lower carbon fuels and energy carriers such as hydrogen, and significant improvements in the efficiencies of energy production and distribution.
In our case, we could think of producing electricity more efficiently so that there will be a more reliable power supply that is cheap and available to the majority of Tanzanians.
An alternative that can be implemented in the near future is the promotion of natural gas for use in homes, vehicles and in factories instead of charcoal, firewood, diesel, and petrol. But again, the supply has to be reliable and cheap so as to have an impact in reduction GHG in the atmosphere.
The low-carbon source of energy would reduce air pollution, save the environment and improve public health.
Yet there is a clear need to initiate and sustain policies to push low-carbon technologies into the market. However experience has shown that this will not be easy for a number of reasons.
One is the question of conservatism. People tend to stick to energy sources that they have been using for decades and are uncomfortable to adapt to new technologies.
The case in point here are the various types of improved stoves that have been developed by various groups in the country.
Although these consume less charcoal or firewood, they are not widely used in both urban and rural areas.
The same is the case for stoves that use husks or sawdust. These low-carbon energy technologies compete with entrenched traditional technologies and so encounter with market and societal barriers.
Then, there is the question of price. Some of the new technologies sell at prohibitive prices so that the poor cannot afford to buy them.
Consumers are thus missing opportunities for cost –effective GHG reductions.
While arguments for what policies would be suitable for which country goes on and programmes are being developed, the most important initial step would be mandatory GHG emission reporting. Every country produces some amount of GHG but the amount differs.
Yet do we know how much we produce?
Reporting on GHG emissions would be the starting point for identifying and stimulating reductions.
There is also need to adopt and promote codes and standards focusing on maximizing GHG reductions. There could be , for example, standards for residential buildings, factories, vehicles and appliances.
And since some industrialists are reluctant to change to new technology, the government could establish an incentive package for private and public procurement and installation of highly efficient technologies that have low-carbon emission on one hand, and spell out punitive measures for those who willfully avoid new technologies.
It is important to note here that no single technology or policy will be sufficient to realize a low-carbon future.
Rather a portfolio of technologies and policies will be needed to effect the absolute reductions of GHG emissions necessary to address climate change.
All the technologies that have been studied so far have the potential to make significant GHG reductions. However more research is needed on all of them.
Natural gas can play a key role in the transition to a low-carbon future but again there are issues of price and availability.
Governments, NGOs and other stakeholders must increased consumer and public education regarding energy use and GHG emissions. But actions to effect the shift to low carbon energy sources must begin now.
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