This is especially alarming considering how many countries, including the United States, have been negatively and economically affected by climate change-related disasters this year, including floods, heat waves, droughts, pest outbreaks and more.
According to NOAA, the United States will experience more than $24 billion in climate change-related events in 2024 alone, resulting in more than $1 billion in losses. Additionally, in the United States, damage from flooding amounts to an average of $46 billion annually. In West Africa, floods have killed millions of people and caused enormous damage. In the Great Horn of Africa, millions of people face food insecurity and severe hunger due to recurrent droughts.
Floods, one of the top three disasters, were particularly hard hit in 2024, according to NOAA. The floods destroyed livestock, poultry, and crops as well as human life. But to date, flood news has only focused on the impact of flooding on humans, not on its impact on plants. However, recent flooding events in Spain, for example, have had a negative impact on agriculture.
Worse, many of these climate change-related events often occur simultaneously, causing catastrophic and compounding impacts on livelihoods and economies.
The conversation surrounding COP29 will focus on climate finance and the need to increase funding for climate change action. Finance can help reduce the impact of these climate disasters on livelihoods and economies, but these investments must be combined with investments dedicated solely to climate research.
Today, it is important to invest in new climate disasters such as flooding and improve climate resilience. Otherwise, food shortages will become more common in the future, food prices will become more volatile, and conflicts over resource scarcity will likely worsen.
Funded flood research will provide fundamental answers as well as solutions to the impacts of flooding. These multifaceted solutions range from identifying and breeding flood-tolerant crops to finding sustainable products that can be applied to help plants and soils recover well and enhance their ability to defend themselves against pests, pathogens and plant viruses after floods. There are various things.
Likewise, flood research can identify combinations of crops that can be planted together to curb flood impacts, while also finding regenerative agricultural practices that can help mitigate flood impacts on plants.
Financial investment in flood research is needed. This could be done through the government’s national science funding agency.
For example, in the United States, research is heavily funded by the National Science Foundation, NOAA, and the United States Department of Agriculture. To ensure that these new climate change-related stressors, particularly flooding and impacts to crops, are addressed through research, a special request for proposals may be advertised and funds set aside to specifically support funding flood-related research.
There are indicators that we are moving in the right direction. Recently, the BIDEN-Harris Administration awarded more than $22.78 million through NOAA to advance research on water-related climate impacts.
However, most funded projects focus on modeling and improving flood predictions.
For example, $7.6 million was awarded to fund work to create street-level maps of potential flooding and improve models of how water cycles through the nation’s rivers. All of this will help communities and businesses better understand the impacts of extreme rainfall.
No project has focused on understanding and predicting the impact of flooding on agricultural plants or finding solutions to overcome the negative impacts of flooding on plants, soils and beneficial microorganisms that support plant health and productivity. These are also areas that need funding.
Funding research related to flood research and building climate resilience will help save lives and reduce infrastructure-related damage. Importantly, funding flood research will help reduce the devastating impact of floods on crops and the financial burden that arises after floods, including government and insurance payments to those affected.
The 2024 Climate Resilience Report found that every dollar invested in preparing for climate change-related disasters can save communities $13 in damage and economic impact.
Similarly, according to the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, every dollar invested in prevention and preparedness can save up to $15 in damage and economic costs.
Research has continued to provide sustainable solutions to climate change-related disasters. Investing in flood research today can help you prepare for tomorrow and a future where flood events are expected to increase.
Dr. Esther Ngumbi He is an assistant professor of entomology in the Department of African American Studies. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
© Interpress Service (2024) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Interpress Service
