Cultural Responses to Climate Change
This technique used in desert communities involves diverting water from rivers or underground reservoirs, and ensures that crops have enough water during dry periods.
What is irrigation?
This human activity that began thousands of years ago, is responsible for transforming natural landscapes into cultivated fields, affecting ecosystems worldwide.
These environmental events such as droughts and floods, are significant drivers of migration, especially in vulnerable regions.
What are climate-related disasters?
This term describes the way humans acquire food and resources, including foraging, farming, and industrialized production.
What is subsistence?
This process involves the re-establishment of community well-being after an environmental shock, where cultural values and traditions are integral to recovery efforts.
What is cultural recovery?
This practice involves using traditional irrigation and water management techniques to deal with the scarcity of water in desert farming.
What is traditional water management?
This process, which involves clearing forests for timber, farming, or urban expansion, has significantly altered biodiversity across the globe.
What is deforestation?
This describes the movement of people due to the impacts of climate change, including extreme weather and rising sea levels.
What is climate migration?
The transition from hunting and gathering to this practice marked a major shift in human subsistence strategies.
What is agriculture?
The ability of a community to use its cultural heritage and practice to adapt to climate change or resource scarcity is an example of this broader concept.
What is cultural adaptation?
This agricultural practice used in arid areas minimizes water use and focuses on crops that can survive with little rainfall, it's essential to desert farming.
What is dryland farming?
These pollutants resulting from human activity, including chemicals and waste products, have contributed to the degradation of air, water, and soil, affecting ecosystems and public health.
What are environmental pollutants?
This type of migration occurs when individuals or communities move within their country due to environmental changes.
What is internal migration?
The shift to farming often reduced the diversity of food production, leading to this kind of health impact.
What is nutritional deficiency?
This type of knowledge helps communities adapt by blending ancestral practices with modern strategies to cope with environmental challenges.
What is indigenous knowledge?
This rare event occurs when a desert landscape is covered with a vibrant display of wildflowers, typically after a wet season and it serves as an ecological indicator and cultural symbol.
What is a wildflower superbloom?
This global phenomenon caused by human activities such as burning fossil fuels, has led to shifting weather patterns and rising sea levels, affecting ecosystems and human populations.
What is climate change?
These populations are at high risk of displacement due to climate change.
Who are the island nations and coastal communities?
The shift to agriculture led to the rise of these types of communities, which allowed for larger populations and more complex societies.
What are permanent settlements?
This term describes the long-term relationship between people and their environment, where cultural ecological systems are seen as interdependent.
What is a symbiotic relationship?
This practice passed down through generations, involves closely observing the environment to predict temperature shifts and rainfall to help communities adjust to a shift in conditions.
What is traditional ecological knowledge?
This human activity leads to the alteration of natural landscapes through the construction of roads, buildings, and infrastructure, disrupting local ecosystems and habitats.
What is urbanization?
This international body works on policies and frameworks to address the needs of people displaced by climate change, focusing on both prevention and adaptation strategies.
What is the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)?
The development of farming led to the creation of these social structures, characterized by unequal distribution of power and resources.
What are social hierarchies?
This term refers to the preservation of community identity and practices while adjusting to environmental pressures.
What is cultural sustainability?