Indigenous Community

Because of their reliance on and intimate contact with the environment and its resources, indigenous peoples are among the first to experience the direct effects of climate change. Indigenous communities already suffer challenges such as political and economic marginalization, loss of land and resources, human rights violations, and discrimination, which are exacerbated by climate change.

 

1. Due to rising temperatures, dune expansion, and increased wind speeds, indigenous peoples in Africa's Kalahari Desert are forced to live around government-drilled bores for water and rely on government support for survival. This has resulted in a loss of vegetation and negatively impacted traditional cattle and goat farming practices.

 

2. Glacial melts in the Himalayan highlands, which affect hundreds of millions of rural residents who rely on seasonal water flows, result in more water in the near term but less in the long run as glaciers and snow cover decline.

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3. Deforestation and forest fragmentation are two of the repercussions of climate change in the Amazon, and as a result, more carbon is released into the atmosphere, worsening and causing more changes. Droughts in the western Amazon region in 2005 resulted in fires, and this is likely to happen again as rainforest is replaced by savannas, posing a serious threat to the locals' livelihoods.

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4. Indigenous peoples of the Arctic rely on polar bear, walrus, seal, and caribou hunting, reindeer herding, fishing, and collecting not just for sustenance, but also as the foundation for their cultural and social identity.Changes in species and availability of traditional food sources, as well as perceived reductions in weather predictions and the safety of traveling in changing ice and weather conditions, are all major concerns for indigenous peoples in the region, posing serious threats to human health and food security. 

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5. Reindeer in Finland, Norway, and Sweden are frequently unable to obtain lichen throughout the winter season due to rain and warm temperatures. This has resulted in a catastrophic loss of reindeer, which are essential to Saami culture, survival, and economy. 

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