Poor Women Bear Climate Burden - BBC News
This is what worries me about climate change. The earth will be fine. It has been through periods much warmer and much cooler than today. It's the species on earth (like humans...and polar bears, etc.) that I worry about. Humans in places like the US will generally be fine. But what about people who live in places that will be underwater once temperatures increase? And what about communities in places like Mongolia that will enter a period of permanent drought?
Regarding drought - in many of the areas expected to be affected by drought due to climate change, it is the women who are responsible for the family/community water supply. This isn't true universally (ex: in Mongolia it is ultimately the responsibility of the men, but also of the women, who fetch the water from what can be miles away) - Hawkins. Due to lack of research regarding these specific communities, water policies are often based on a world-wide standard ...when really it is impossible to apply these effectively to each and every country, let alone community.
Anyway, how is it possible to do anything about this? Can the United Nations Population Fund really go around the world and educate people in rural, nomadic, and isolated communities about how to live and get water so that they can survive? I don't know, but hey this is why geography is so important eh?
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