Making Global Issues (and Solutions) Relevant to the Person on the Street

Fall Extension ConferenceSeptember 30,2021

Brian J. Klatt, Ph.D.

Learning Objectives

• Orient participants to three global issues – Climate Change, Decline of Nature, and Sustainability

• Relate concerns of these issues to each MSUE Institute

• Provide a brief overview how these are being addressed at the global level

• Identify actions that Extension and Michiganders can do to address the issues

• Provide resources for Extension staff

Global Issues Out of the Headlines

• Climate Change

• Nature in Decline

• (Un)Sustainable Development

Climate Change: Why do we care?

• The land, air, and water are warming at an unprecedented rate

• This warming is unequivocally due, at least in part, to human activities

• This trend is resulting in a variety of impacts to the Earth’s climate and weather

Source: IPCC 2014, 2021

What’s driving this change?

We are…

…through emission of greenhouse gases (GHG).

Source: USEPA 2021

Climate Change: Why do we care?• Benefits associated with climate change:

• Reduced cold-related deaths• Expanded agriculture in high latitudes

• Negatives associated with climate change:• Heat waves and heat-related deaths

• Exacerbation of respiratory ailments…allergies, asthma, etc.• Wildlife impacts• Spread of invasive species• More intense storms• Droughts• Rising sea levels• More and more-intense wildfires• Impacts to agriculture

• Reduced crop yields (especially wheat and corn)• Increase in vector-related diseases

Source: IPCC 2014, 2021

It affects our health, ability to grow food, housing, safety, ecosystems and the economy

Climate Change: Who is doing something about it?

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

• The IPCC was created by the United Nations to provide policymakers with regular scientific assessments on climate change, its implications and potential future risks, as well as to put forward adaptation and mitigation options.

How the IPCC works• Established in 1988

• 195 Member countries

• Working Groups – Thousands of scientists• I - assesses the physical science of climate change.• II - assesses the vulnerability of socio-economic and natural systems to climate change,

negative and positive consequences of climate change and options for adapting to it.• III - focuses on climate change mitigation, assessing methods for reducing greenhouse

gas emissions, and removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.

IPCC Reports – First report in 1992

Nature in Decline: Why do we care?

Human well-being is underpinned by nature

IPBES 2018, Klatt et al. 2018

Nature in Decline: Why do we care?

IPBES 2018, Klatt et al. 2018

• Material• Energy• Food and

Feed• Medicine• Building

Materials

Nature’s Contributions to People (NCP), or “Ecosystem Goods and Services”• Regulating

• Habitat creation

• Pollination

• Carbon storage

• Soil formation

• Regulation of

• Climate

• Hazards and extreme events

• Air quality

• Ocean acidification

• Non-material• Learning and

inspiration• Cultural

cohesion• Nature

experience

Nature in Decline: Why do we care?

It is generally recognized that the world’s ecosystems are being depleted and degraded reducing their ability to provide “goods and services”.

IPBES 2018

Climate Change: Who is doing something about it?

Inter-governmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services(IPBES)

…IPBES does for biodiversity what IPCC does for climate change…

How IPBES Works• Founded in 2012 – 100+ Member States

• Independent body under the auspices of several UN programs:

• Environment Programme (UNEP)

• Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

• Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)

• Development Programme (UNDP)

• Teams of Experts that produce assessment reports

Nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021

Assessment Teams

• ~120+ Experts for each assessment

• Coordinating meetings to insure consistency across assessments

Joint Regional and Land Degradation Assessment Coordinating Lead Authors Meeting

Bonn, Germany, Aug 2016

March 2018

Regional Assessment for the Americas

Key Findings - NCPs

• Americas account for 40.5% of the world’s biocapacity• 3X more resources per capita than average global citizen• Provide essential contributions to the economy, livelihoods, food,

water, and energy security, and to the eradication of poverty in the region

• Increases in the use of nature has resulted in the region being the largest global exporter of food

• Food security has increased, but food production has had large impacts on ecosystems

Key Findings - NCPs• Forests and wetlands are the ecosystems most recognized for their role in

the regulation of freshwater supplies

• Ecosystem losses, especially wetlands and forests, have reduced NCP for climate regulation and adaptation to hazardous and extreme events

• Freshwater is relatively abundant, but distribution is problematic; per capita available freshwater has decreased 50% in the past 50 years

• Renewable energy production has increased, contributing to energy security, but dams, ethanol production, and wind turbines all have negative consequences

Key Findings of Biodiversity Trends

• Habitat losses compared to original land cover• 95% - Great Plains tall grass prairie• 50% - North American wetlands• 50% - North American grasslands (1.5 million hectares of NA grassland lost in

2014-2015)

• 14,000 (25% of all) species in the Americas are under threat of extinction

• Since 1989, the number of threatened North American freshwater fishes has increased by 25%, with 7.5 extinct taxa per decade post-1950

Drivers of Change

• Direct Drivers• Habitat degradation• Pollution/Biogeochemical changes• Climate change• Biological invasions• Harvesting/Over harvesting

• Indirect Drivers• Governance systems, institutions,

values• Economic development• Trade and finance• Technological development• Demographic trends• Poverty and equity

What’s the bottom line?

Unit of Analysis Food

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Temperate and boreal forests and woodlands

Temperate grasslands

Wetlands - peatlands, mires, bogsInland surface waters and water bodies/freshwater

Urban areas

Agricultural, silvicultural, aqua-cultural systems

Direction of Change in Providing Nature's Contribution

Strongly Increasing

Increasing

Stable

Decreasing

Strongly Decreasing

Medium

Medium Low

Low

Very Low

Material NCP Non-material NCP Regulation NCP

Very High

High

Medium High

Importance of Unit to Supply Nature's Contribution

79% of all NCP in North America are decreasing or strongly decreasing

IPBES 2018, 2019

World-wide around 1 million species already face extinction, many within decades

Key Findings – Drivers of Change

• Unsustainable trends in populations and economic growth

• Habitat conversion and degradation

• Climate change

• Invasive species

• Weakness in governance systems and institutional framework

• On the bright side…ecological restoration efforts provide somewhat of a counter-balance

IPBES 2018, 2019

Synthesized Findings – Cause for Concern

• Many changes in NCP are increasingly driven by causal interactions between distant places (i.e. telecoupling)

• The rate of impact to NCP is increasing

• Environmental considerations not mainstreamed into governments

Available IPBES Reports (and Links)

Sustainable Development - Why do we care?

• Sustainable Development - “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

UNESCO 2021https://en.unesco.org/themes/education-sustainable-development/what-is-esd/sd

Humankind’s only hope for surviving on the planet

https://sdgs.un.org/goals

Synthesized Findings – Cause for Concern

• Sustainability - a “wicked problem”• Consumer society – people want stuff• Increasing global population• Poverty• Telecoupling – actions in disparate locations combine to produce

problems (Asian beef consumption is supported by cattle production in tropical dry forest and feed is soybeans)

• Data/Knowledge gaps – “we still don’t know jack s***”• What we do know is fragmented and fragments aren’t scalable

Climate Change(IPCC)

Sustainability(SDG)

Nature(IPBES)

Human Well-being

Relevance to MSUE Institutes• CFEI

• The effects of climate change are best documented in natural systems…it is pervasive

• Worldwide…1 million species at risk of extinction (IPBES 2019)

• Michigan - 61% of non-game species and 17% of game species are vulnerable (Hoving et al. 2013)

• Shifting species ranges

• As of 2009, some small mammal species expanded ranges northward by 200+ miles (Myers, et al. 2009)

• E.g. Southern flying squirrel is expanding, northern flying squirrel all but gone from lower peninsula (Myers, et al. 2009)

• Moose will disappear from Michigan before the end of the century (Hoving et al. 2013)

• New invasive species (IPCC 2014)

• Shifting economy may put additional stress on farms

• Underlying issue…poor governance (IPBES 2018, 2019)

Relevance to MSUE Institutes• HNI

• Heat-related deaths –• 70% of the 600+ sudden deaths in Vancouver in June 2021 were heat-related; of those, 79% were people 65

and older (CBC 2021)

• Avoiding the worst climate impacts could help prevent 5,000,000 additional climate-related deaths during the period 2030 to 2050, mainly from malnutrition, malaria, diarrhea and heat stress. (IPCC Fast Facts – Health)

• Meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement could save about 1,000,000 lives per year worldwide by 2050 through reductions in air pollution alone (IPCC Fast Facts – Health)

• Climate change has been linked to greater risks from zoonotic diseases. (IPCC Fast Facts – Climate and Nature)

• Food supplies on a world-wide basis will be affected, but less so in Michigan• Without addressing socio-economic disparities, the effects of climate change and degradation

of natural systems will only exacerbate those disparities

Relevance MSUE Institutes• AABI

• Impacts to yields

• New pests

• Reduction in pollinators

• Shifts in hardiness zones (may be a positive)

• Changes in “normal” temperature ranges

• Changes in precipitation patterns

• Urban expansion will continue to impact farmland• Since 1990, urbanized areas have doubled world-wide

Source: IPCC 2014

Relevance MSUE Institutes

• CYI• Climate change will exacerbate asthma and allergies

• Poor communities will suffer more than rich, especially with respect to heat

• Need for environmental literacy

• Also, many of same health concerns of adults

It is the children that will inherit a much-changed planet

Source: IPCC 2014

Think globally, act locally. - Rene Dubos

What can Michigan residents (and Extension) do?

What can Michigan residents (and Extension) do about climate change?

• Eat less meat (livestock account for 14.5% of all anthropogenic GHG emissions (Gerber et al., FAO 2013))

• Ditch the car and fly less (in 2019 transportation accounted for 29% US GHG emissions (USEPA 2021))

• Switch electricity provider (in 2019 transportation accounted for 25% US GHG emissions (USEPA 2021))

• Use energy wisely – unplug electric items not in use (avoid “vampire electricity)• Home Greening

• Improved insulation• Plant for shading• Energy efficient appliances

• Don’t waste food• Reduce lawn mowing• Reduce, Reuse, Recycle• Buy locally produced food and other items• Work with local governments to promote sustainable development• See thegreenhubonline.com for 40 more things

MSUE – Michigan Climate Ready Farm Assessment

• Tool under development by Monica Jean and Sarah Franczak• Online questionnaire regarding various factors

• Irrigation• Susceptibility to financial risk• Soil practices

• Intent is to help farmers to assess how vulnerable they may be to climate change

What can Michigan residents (and Extension) do about declining biodiversity?

• Reduce water waste (don’t buy bottled water)• Eat sustainably (less meat and more local)• Avoid plastics• Manage livestock grazing to maintain good quality range conditions• Establish conservation easements• Use nature responsibly – sustainable harvest• Invest sustainably• Reduce use of pesticides• Encourage and support local government initiatives that protect habitat• Reduce, reuse, recycle• Promote sustainable farming practices• Promote backyard habitat through use of native plants (but keep your cat indoors)

• Invest sustainably

What can Michigan residents (and Extension) do about sustainability?

• Encourage and support local government initiatives that protect habitat• Promote sustainable farming practices• Promote environmental literacy• Promote equity in all its forms• Reduce water waste (don’t buy bottled water)• Eat sustainably (less meat and more local)• Reduce, reuse, recycle• Manage livestock grazing to maintain good quality range conditions• Use nature responsibly• Invest sustainably• Establish conservation easements• Promote backyard habitat through use of native plants (but keep your cat indoors)

Climate Change(IPCC)

Sustainability(SDG)

Nature(IPBES)

Human Well-being

References and ResourcesCBC News, 2021. 70% of sudden deaths recorded during B.C. heat wave were due to extreme temperatures, coroner confirms. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-heat-dome-sudden-deaths-570-1.6122316 (accessed 2021-09-24)

Gerber, P.J., Steinfeld, H., Henderson, B., Mottet, A., Opio, C., Dijkman, J., Falcucci, A. & Tempio, G. 2013. Tackling climate change through livestock – A global assessment of emissions and mitigation opportunities. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Rome.

Hoving, C.L., Y-M Lee, P.J. Badra, and B.J. Klatt. 2013. Changing Climate, Changing Wildlife. Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Division Report No. 3564, Lansing, MI

IPBES 2018. Summary for policymakers of the regional assessment report on biodiversity and ecosystem services for the Americas of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. J. Rice, C.S. Seixas, M.E. Zaccagnini, M. Bedoya-Gaitán, N. Valderrama, C.B. Anderson, M.T.K. Arroyo, M. Bustamante, J. Cavender-Bares, A. Diaz-de-Leon, S. Fennessy, J. R. García Márquez, K. Garcia, E.H. Helmer, B. Herrera, B. Klatt, J.P. Ometo, V. Rodríguez Osuna, F.R. Scarano, S. Schill and J. S. Farinaci (eds.). IPBES Secretariat, Bonn, Germany. 41 pages.

IPBES 2019. Global assessment report on biodiversity and ecosystem services of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. E. S. Brondizio, J. Settele, S. Díaz, and H. T. Ngo (editors). IPBES secretariat, Bonn, Germany. 1148 pages. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3831673

References and ResourcesIPCC. 2014. Summary for policymakers. In: Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability. Part A: Global and Sectoral Aspects. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Field, C.B., V.R. Barros, D.J. Dokken, K.J. Mach, M.D. Mastrandrea, T.E. Bilir, M. Chatterjee, K.L. Ebi, Y.O. Estrada, R.C. Genova, B. Girma, E.S. Kissel, A.N. Levy, S. MacCracken, P.R. Mastrandrea, and L.L. White (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA, pp. 1-32.

IPCC. 2021: Summary for Policymakers. In: Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Masson-Delmotte, V., P. Zhai, A. Pirani, S. L. Connors, C. Péan, S. Berger, N. Caud, Y. Chen, L. Goldfarb, M. I. Gomis, M. Huang, K. Leitzell, E. Lonnoy, J.B.R. Matthews, T. K. Maycock, T. Waterfield, O. Yelekçi, R. Yu and B. Zhou (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press. In Press.

Klatt, B. J., J. R. Garcia Marquez, J. P. Ometto, M. Valle, M. E. Mastrangelo, T. Gadda, W. A. Pengue, W. Ramirez Hernandez, M. P. Baptiste Espinosa, S. V. Acebey Quiroga, M. V. Blanco, J. Agard, and M. C. Guezala Villavicencio. 2018, Chapter 5: Current and future interactions between nature and society. Pages 538-643 in J. Rice, C. S. Seixas, M. E. Zaccagnini, M. Bedoya-Gaitan, and N. Valderrama, editors. IPBES (2018): The IPBES regional assessment report on biodiversity and ecosystem services for the Americas. Secretariat of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, Bonn, Germany.

Myers, P., B.L. Lundrigan, S.M. Hoffman, A. Poor-Haraminac, and S.H. Seto. 2009. Climate induced changes in the small mammal communities of the northern Great Lakes region. Glob. Chang. Biol. 15: 1434–1454.

USEPA 2021. Sources of Greenhouse Gas Emissions. USEPA https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/sources-greenhouse-gas-emissions (accessed 2021-09-27)

Helpful LinksIntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

Intergovernmental Science-policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES)

Midwest Climate Adaptation Science Center Consortium

MSU Libraries Climate Resilience Hub

UN Food and Agriculture Organizaton (FAO)

UN Sustainable Development Goals

IPCC and FAO Reports (and links)

UN Climate Change Fast Facts (and links)

IPBES Reports (and Links)

https://sdgs.un.org/goals

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