TEHRAN – Global warming and ice sheet melting pose serious threats to food security in the south of the country, Ahad Vazifeh, the head of the Meteorological Organization, has warned.

One of the climate change’s major impacts is the rising sea levels, as in the Persian Gulf, which can lead to flooding in coastal areas. If the sea level increases by one meter by the end of the century, coastal areas in Khuzestan,  Hormozgan, and Bushehr will be affected by saltwater intrusion. Soil sanitation will endanger palm groves in the southern coasts, the official said.

The official went on to say that climate change also affects food security; it disrupts weather patterns and planting schedules, decreases agricultural production, damages soil, and declines marine production. All these issues underscore the need for a change in policy and a move toward climate change adaptation, Vazifeh further noted.

Climate adaptation best strategy to reduce climate vulnerabilities

Today, climate change, particularly a sharp decline in annual precipitation, along with other environmental changes such as the drying up of wetlands, land degradation, sand and dust storms, and desertification, has caused numerous environmental problems.

According to the head of the Department of Environment (DOE), Shina Ansari, boosting resilience and adaptation is the most effective strategy to mitigate the adverse impacts of climate change.

Apart from affecting the environment, climate change poses a crisis in the health sector. Being located in West Asia, the impacts of climate change and the rise in temperature in Iran are more than the global average, which indirectly leads to the intensification of pathogens, doe.ir quoted Ansari as saying.

She made the remarks while addressing the 9th international and 28th national conference on environmental health held on Tuesday at Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences in Tehran.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), over the next two decades, climate change is expected to cause more than five million additional deaths worldwide.  The adaptive capacity of each country’s health system showcases its ability to adapt to the adverse health effects posed by climate change, she added.

Indirect effects of climate change include the spread of mosquito-borne diseases. It will threaten food security, spread poverty, and intensify wars, conflicts, as well as internal and external migrations, Ansari noted.

MT/MG