Delmarva Today 5-28-21
In this last of Harold Wilson’s series of Delmarva Today programs on climate change, Dr. Michael Allen returns to discuss the impact of global warming on human rights. He is joined by Madison Gonzalez, a graduate research assistant at the Virginia Modeling, Analysis, and Simulation Center at Old Dominion University.
According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1948, “human rights are rights we have simply because we exist as human beings - they are not granted by any state. These universal rights are inherent to us all, regardless of nationality, sex, national or ethnic origin, color, religion, language, or any other status. They range from the most fundamental - the right to life - to those that make life worth living, such as the rights to food, education, work, health, and liberty.”
It is clear that climate change poses many threats to our way of life on the planet. One of the most obvious is the devastation caused by drought, sea water rise, and severe weather events. Little discussed, however, is the impact climate change is having on human rights. As necessary resources such as water become increasingly scarce for example, what does it mean that they are intentionally diverted from vulnerable populations? Madison Gonzalez’s research work focuses on social stability in the wake of extreme events like environmental crises, sudden population increases, and pandemics. Michael Allen is a climate scientist and professor of geography in the Department of Political Science and Geography at Old Dominion University.
