Last week it became known about the mass death of deer in the district, for the first time in the last 75 years an outbreak of the disease was recorded there. The diagnosis "anthrax" was confirmed in 23 people. In total, 90 patients with suspected illness are now in Salekhard's hospitals. A 12-year-old boy has died.
More than 160 reindeer herders were evacuated from the contaminated zone. There is a quarantine in the Yamal region. Regional authorities will allocate 90 million rubles. for the construction of new chums.
Now, according to the minister, prevention is being actively pursued. More than 40 thousand animals have already been vaccinated. There is no threat of the spread of the disease.
According to local authorities, the outbreak was caused by an unusually warm summer for the Far North. For almost two months in Yamal the heat was at 35 degrees. Because of this, the permafrost began to thaw, where anthrax spores can remain active for hundreds of years.
Experts around the world have been talking about the dangers associated with global warming for many years now. Many countries have already felt the consequences of such a warming, however, the consequences of global warming have not been noticeable in Russia so far. And the appearance of anthrax is perhaps just the first bell.
Disappointing forecasts
The United Nations (UN) has already warned that the heat will reduce the productivity of the population in those regions of the planet that are focused on agriculture.
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In 43 countries, especially in the Asian region, a decline in GDP is predicted. Thus, in Indonesia and Thailand, GDP will decrease by 6%, in India - by 3.2%, in China - by 0.8%.
However, richer countries are less exposed to the risks of productivity losses due to heat waves. According to UN experts, countries with low and middle incomes will incur the greatest losses.
Climate change will mainly affect human health: the costs of maintaining clean air, safe drinking water and sufficient food, reliable shelter will increase.
According to the World Health Organization, in the period from 2030 to 2050. climate change will cause more than 250,000 deaths a year, despite projected economic growth and progress in health.
38 thousand elderly people will die from exposure to heat, from diarrhea - 48 thousand, malaria will claim 60 thousand lives, and 95 thousand children will die from malnutrition.
The distribution of precipitation will have an impact on fresh water supplies: lack of it can affect the hygiene of the population and increase the risk of diarrhea, which increases infant mortality. At the age of up to 5 years now about 760 thousand children die a year.
Not to mention, severe drought in itself leads to hunger. Changing rainfall patterns are likely to reduce the production of staple foods in poor regions.
Some African countries are projected to fall to 50% by 2020, exacerbating malnutrition and malnutrition. Now 3.1 million people die from food shortages a year.
Climate change is likely to lead China to an increased incidence of schistosomiasis, a disease spread by shellfish.
Malaria will flourish in Africa, killing nearly 600,000 people a year before the age of 5. The dengue vector Aedes mosquitoes will re-breed due to changing climatic conditions, suggesting an increased risk of dengue infection.
The UN report says that over the past 130 years, the temperature in the world has increased steadily by about 0.85 ° C. But over the past 25 years, the rate of global warming has accelerated, reaching 0.18 ° C in a decade. And meteorological events of an extreme nature began to occur more often and more intensely.
Rising water level
US real estate website Zillow estimates that rising water levels could damage homeowners up to $ 882 billion.
According to a study published in Nature, water levels could rise by more than 6 feet (1.83 meters) by the end of the century.
With this development of events, according to the study, in the state of Florida, about 1 million homes will be left abandoned, or 13% of all existing homes.
And this is equal to the cost of $ 400 billion, not including losses associated with administrative and commercial buildings, with public infrastructure.
The findings came after analysts at Zillow compared their own home value estimates with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's forecasts for rising water levels.
Analysts warn that governments of different countries, not only the United States, should pay attention to this problem and allocate funding for the construction of protection. However, even if such funding is provided, the damage from rising water levels will be significant.
In a softer scenario, drawn up by Zillow analysts, if the sea level rises by 2 feet (0.61 m), the US losses on home values will be $ 74 billion, while Florida will have the largest loss at $ 17 billion.
The cost of loss is calculated based on the number of houses at risk of flooding and their value.
In the worst case scenario, New York will lose about 32 thousand homes worth $ 27 billion.
Water is the new cause of wars
But there is also a downside to global warming. If some regions of the Earth will suffer from excess water, others will suffer from its lack.
And gradually, analysts believe, water will become one of those resources for the possession of which real wars will be waged.
As temperatures on Earth rise, arid regions will increasingly rely on groundwater as they become increasingly arid. However, these resources are also being depleted - this is the problem.
Less precipitation falls, therefore groundwater reserves are replenished less.
Previous research also indicates that water areas in different regions of the world are being depleted, which in turn threatens agriculture.
On the other hand, scientists have found that areas such as the North Amazon, Africa, the Missouri River region in the United States, and other tropical regions are getting wetter.
Such conclusions were made on the basis of data received from NASA satellites in the period from 2002 to 2014, notes USA Today.
Over the same period, scientists note, certain areas in the Middle East, North Africa, India, China and the southwestern United States have become more arid.
California is a particularly striking example. She has recently been grappling with a severe drought that is affecting agriculture and the state's economy as a whole.
Such studies raise questions about how to eliminate the "water inequality" between different regions of the world, whether water will become a tradable resource, like oil and gold, in the future, how will the economy of regions change, where changes related to water resources are already observed.
Declining GDP of rich countries
The heat resistance of rich countries is most likely due to the fact that some of them (such as Germany and France) are located in the cooler zone of climatic optimum and therefore have higher rates in warmer years.
At the same time, other countries (such as America and Australia) are located in hotter regions and their economies are suffering from rising temperatures.
If we look at specific countries, then in America, for example, every hot day (within an average temperature of 24-27 ° C for more than 24 hours) reduces the average income per person by 20%, according to a working report from the National Bureau of Economic Research. Very hot days (over 30 ° C) reduce profit per person by 28%.
As the number of hot days increases, either more workers are needed to complete the same project, or they need to pay them extra money for overtime. Sectors of the economy where workers are exposed to the weather employ 28% of America's workforce.
Countries can, of course, try to overcome the negative effects of warming, but refrigeration is quite expensive. In Singapore, air conditioners consume 40% of the electricity used in buildings.
If nothing is done about global warming, the world will face an 83% increase in electricity consumption by 2100, only due to the increase in the use of air conditioners, fans and refrigerators, according to a study published in the journal PNAS.
Global warming can harm rich countries not only through lower productivity. In addition to high temperatures, climate change is also driving sea level rise and an increase in extreme weather events (such as hurricanes).
Due to the fact that many megacities are located on the coast, they will have to build expensive flood defenses.
But even if rich countries manage to somehow protect themselves from global warming, they will still feel it indirectly: trade with weather-vulnerable regions will sharply decrease, and the number of refugees will increase.
Infrastructure of the northern regions
It would seem that everything is clear with the southern regions: drought and lack of water resources, undoubtedly, negatively affect both the regional economy and the living standards of the population. However, the northern regions also suffer greatly from climate warming, as can be seen in the example of Alaska.
Over the past several years, ground movement has been observed on the main road in Alaska, and in some places it is so pronounced that irregularities in the asphalt are noticeable.
There are warning signs along the road that advise drivers to slow down.
And engineers are trying to find a solution to the problem, offering a variety of, sometimes incredible, options, such as placing plastic cooling pipes or insulation, using lighter asphalt, or adding a layer of rock no larger than a soccer ball.
However, all these options seem incredible both from an economic point of view and from the standpoint of banal logic.
At the moment, the highway serves as the main artery that connects Alaska with civilization. On this road tourists come here, goods and foodstuffs, equipment for oil fields and ores are supplied.
The dark road surface absorbs sunlight, while the road shoulder retains water and snow.
The heat destroys the permafrost (soil, rock, which have been frozen for the next two years).
However, this problem is relevant only for North America.
More than 600 scientists from various countries, including the USA, Canada, Russia, China, Sweden and Argentina, gathered in June for a conference on permafrost issues.
Today, engineers believe that permafrost will not be stable, even if modern insulation is used.
Many roads that have already been built will cause large losses, as new bridges and bypasses will be required if global warming exceeds forecasts and changes construction standards.
Experts believe that the melting of ice caused by a warming climate negatively affects not only the condition of roads, but also the condition of runways at airports, the condition of buildings and pipelines, and also leads to a change in the migration flows of animals.
Global warming and disease
According to scientists, global warming will shift the habitats of various species, as a result of which people, crops and pets will come into contact with new pathogens. As a result, we can expect many outbreaks of dangerous diseases similar to the Ebola epidemic in Africa.
According to scientists, there will be many local outbreaks that will lead to an increased burden on medical services and the death of many people.
So, scientists note that over the past 30 years in the circumpolar regions and the tropics, the contact of different ecosystems has led to the invasion of parasites and other pathogenic organisms into a new habitat.
Scientists consider this a serious problem, as many species, including humans, do not have resistance to unfamiliar pathogens. As a result, local outbreaks of new diseases with a high mortality rate may occur.
There are scientists who believe that the anthrax outbreak could also be the result of global warming.
Due to high temperatures, the permafrost is destroyed, as a result, a buried layer and bacilli, which were left from previous epidemics, appear on the surface.
