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FEBRUARY 20, 2001

Indigenous communities all over the world are more vulnerable to the potentially devastating effects of global warming according to a United Nations (UN) study on climate change released on Monday.

From crop damage to floods to increased rates of death, rising global temperatures cause irreversible effects on the environment, said the 700 scientists who contributed to the 1,000-page report. Already responsible for reducing polar glaciers, the report predicts global warming by the end of the century will lead to the disappearance of numerous species of animals, birds, and plants, along with the destruction of natural habitats.

Global warming has also had an effect on the world's economy. The report says that economic losses from natural catastrophes increased from about $4 billion a year during the 1950s to $40 billion in 1999, with developing countries bearing about 25 percent of the costs.

Humans won't be shielded from the changes either. Whether its a natural disaster brought about by a more severe El Nino weather system or changes in the crops that feed the world's populations, global warming will affect every human in every region in the world.

But poor and indigenous communities are most at risk. While humans are in general highly adaptive, a wide variety of factors, including location, affect how populations react to climate changes.

"The ability of human systems to adapt to and cope with climate change depends on such factors as wealth, technology, education, information, skills, infrastructure, access to resources, and management capabilities," said a UN policy summary.

In particular, indigenous communities in New Zealand, Australia, Latin America, and North America are cited as more vulnerable to climate change. Indigenous people in general are at the bottom of the economic, education, and technology ladders.

And since many Native communities are closely tied to the ecosystem for cultural and subsistence purposes, they more likely to be affected by any changes to it. Although not directly related to global warming, this phenomenon was observed by scientists who discovered the breast milk of Inuit mothers in Arctic Canada contained twice the level of industrial contaminants than the milk of mothers in southern Canada and the United States.

Still, global warming isn't accepted as gospel by the leaders of a number of developed nations. While the United States participated actively in a United Nations treaty to ban persistent organic pollutants, it has resisted an agreement that would reduce the production of the gases which are most considered responsible for global warming.

At one time, Secretary of Interior Gale Norton also downplayed the issue and said there was little scientific consensus which showed global warming was an actual occurrence. But in her Senate testimony last month, she said she would keep an open mind about it and said an article she had written was out of date.

"It does seem, based on my evaluation, which is not a scientific one, that there is beginning to be more of a consensus that global warming is occurring," said Norton. "There is still disagreement as to the causes and the long-term future, and, obviously, there is disagreement about what ought to be done in that regard."

President George W. Bush has already had an affect on global policy. The United Nations last week delayed another round of negotiations on a global warming treaty until May at the request of the Bush administration.

Relevant Links:
The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - www.ipcc.ch

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Negotiations begin to ban pollutants (Enviro 12/05)
Scientists trace Arctic pollution to US (Enviro 10/04)
Dioxins are everywhere (Enviro 10/04)