Climate change remains a growing concern, impacting everything from how businesses operate and how developing countries acquire resources to how local communities are rebuilt after facing the massive impacts of natural disasters that global warming causes. According to the World Health Organization, the global temperature has been rising tremendously, and the excessive burning of fossil fuels represents a massive threat to human health. Furthermore, carbon dioxide, fossil fuels, and different greenhouse gas emissions have made climate change a significant problem in today’s world, strongly impacting how people approach daily lifestyle habits. New technologies have been developed to mitigate climate change risks, and many companies are striving to achieve net-zero emissions and are investing in various different machines to reverse the negative effects. But are these actions enough to reduce global temperatures?
Unfortunately, activities like enhanced industrial activity, urbanisation, and the acceleration of consumerism harm the environment because they deplete unnecessary resources, threatening human life and different animal species. Furthermore, ice glaciers have melted due to rising temperatures, affecting all forms of life in cold environments. Overall, climate change is having a massive impact on the entire Europe, Latvia included, affecting society and the country's economy. We explore below some of the biggest consequences that Latvia is facing due to climate change.
Temperature increases
Latvia is now experiencing milder winters, and the snow cover has been significantly reduced, which, unfortunately, directly impacts winter tourism and traditional activities such as skiing and ice fishing. Temperature increases have also led to longer growing seasons, and although they may seem like a benefit for agriculture, the risks aren’t to be overlooked, as unforeseen weather patterns can cause drought and crop failures.
Sea levels rise
The Baltic Sea coast in Latvia is prone to sea-level rise, which exacerbates coastal erosion, threatens coastal habitats, and enhances the dangers of flooding in coastal towns and cities. Furthermore, changes in sea temperature can also impact marine ecosystems, causing shifts in fish populations and impacting the fishing industry.
Biodiversity shifts
The changing climate is leading to shifts in species distribution, with some native species becoming less common than they used to be. Furthermore, forests in Latvia are also under a lot of stress due to the changing precipitation patterns and the pests and diseases that are becoming increasingly common. Unfortunately, this could have irreversible consequences, leading to reduced biodiversity.
Extreme weather events
Storms are becoming more frequent and intense in Latvia, leading to coastal erosion, damage to infrastructure, and increased flooding in low-lying areas. Besides the increased frequency of storms, which have devastating consequences, higher temperatures are also leading to frequent droughts and heatwaves, affecting agriculture, water resources, and wildfire risk.
Public health issues
More frequent and intense heat waves could increase heat-related issues, especially among vulnerable populations like the elderly. Warmer temperatures could also lead to diseases like mosquitoes, potentially increasing the risk of Lyme disease and other viruses.
Economic impact
When it comes to climate change, the impact on tourism can’t be disregarded, as it could affect winter tourism in particular, because of the unreliability of snow cover. Besides, increased storm and flooding damage could lead to enhanced infrastructure repair and maintenance costs, impacting the tourism industry's long-term profitability in Latvia.
How is Latvia responding to climate change issues?
In 2019, Latvia’s economy was the 12th most carbon-intensive in the European Union; however, over the last few years, it has decreased its carbon intensity by 21%, against the EU average reduction, which accounts for 33%. Transport accounted for the most significant share of Latvia’s GHG emissions back in 2005, and by 2019, the emissions had risen by as much as 6.9%, also accompanied by an increase in the sector’s share to 27.8% in GHG emissions. A significant reduction occurred in the construction and manufacturing sectors, reducing emissions by an impressive 42% between 2005 and 2019, further successfully lowering the share of the sector’s total emissions from 10.1% to 5.7%.
In 2018, Latvia had net emissions of 13.6 MtCo2e, while in 2019, they amounted to 12.9 MtCO2e, further increasing by 11.2% between 2005 and 2019. Land use, land-use change, and forestry emissions saw fluctuations in 2005-2018, causing an increase in net emissions. The decreased carbon sink functions seen in the LULUCF sector in Latvia have resulted from the doubling of logging, national forests’ age structure, shifts in the share of forests of growth and overgrowth, and more. Latvia aims to tackle the carbon losses in carbon sink functions by taking action both in the LULUCF sector as well as the agricultural industry through animal nutrition, manure management, and enhanced CO2 sequestration from forests to name a few, with sink capacities forecasted to reach 3.1 MtCO2e by 2030.
A notable plan in Latvia is the one approved on 2 July 2020, which aims to enhance the quality of the living environment and increase regional development. The focus here is on the environment and nature, balanced regional development, and technological services and improvement. To this end, Latvia is planning to take several measures, such as reducing GHG emissions through climate change mitigation actions and leveraging tech advancements, increasing carbon sequestration, and introducing changes to the public transport network by promoting local mobility and the railway system.
The outlook for climate change looks grave, but that doesn’t mean no measures should be taken to improve the situation
The reality is that the outlook for climate change in 2024 and beyond doesn’t look good: in fact, between 2022-2026, the world will experience temperature rises as never before, breaking a record held in 2016. Now, this doesn’t mean that no one should do anything to try to improve the current situation: there are, in fact, still many measures to implement that could make a difference in the state of the planet in the long run. For instance, countries, businesses, and individuals alike should be more climate-positive and not just join the movement to achieve net-zero emissions. Being climate-positive simply means seeking to reduce the carbon footprint individually instead of investing in carbon offsets with the aim of reducing the carbon emissions produced in the first place. Furthermore, different actions in the daily routine can also improve climate change, such as implementing greener transportation methods, avoiding fast fashion, taking shorter showers, turning off devices when not using them, and adopting plant-based diets, to name a few.
The bottom line
All in all, climate change is a major concern, and its consequences affect everyone. However, global leaders, countries, and individuals can still take action to change the course of climate change so that the next few years won’t look so bad.
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