The Mismatch between Anthropogenic CO2 Emissions and Their Consequences for Human Zinc and Protein Sufficiency Highlights Important Environmental Justice Issues

Elizabeth R H Moore,Debbie Humphries,Matthew R Smith,Samuel S Myers,Robert Dubrow

doi:10.3390/challe11010004

Elizabeth R H Moore, Debbie Humphries + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/challe11010004

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Abstract

The impacts of climate change are not equally distributed globally. We examined the global distribution of CO2 emissions and the ensuing distribution of increases in the risk of zinc and protein deficiency resulting from elevated atmospheric CO2 concentrations. We estimated cumulative per capita (2011–2050) CO2 emissions for 146 countries using existing measurement data and by apportioning regional emissions projections. We tested the relationship between cumulative per capita CO2 emissions and the risk of additional zinc and protein deficiency at the population-level and country-level. At the population-level (i.e., population-weighted), we observed a significant inverse association between CO2 emissions and the percentage of the population placed at additional risk of zinc (p-value: <0.001) and protein (p-value: <0.01) deficiencies. Country-level (i.e., unweighted) analyses produced significant but less strong associations. Populations with lower per capita CO2 emissions between 2011 and 2050 will experience a disproportionately high nutritional burden, highlighting socioeconomic, geospatial, and intergenerational injustices.

Highlights

The impacts of climate change are not distributed globally
At the country level, we found a significant inverse association between cumulative (2011–2050) per capita CO2 emissions and increased risk of zinc
Each 100 metric tons of CO2 (MtCO2) increase in cumulative per capita CO2 emissions was associated with a 0.11 percent decrease in those at new risk of protein deficiency (Table 2 and Figure 2). For both zinc and protein, these findings show that countries with lower per capita CO2 emissions have a higher modeled increase in future new risk of deficiency

Summary

Introduction

The impacts of climate change are not distributed globally. Countries with the highest historical greenhouse gas emissions have been found to be the least vulnerable to the negative impacts of climate change—such as extreme weather events, impacts on the food system, biodiversity loss, economic stress, and health effects [1]. Climate change is expected to impact human health by changing the severity or frequency of already occurring health problems and/or by creating unanticipated health threats [2,3]. While all countries are at risk of the health impacts of climate change, low-income and marginalized populations are most vulnerable [1,2,3,4,5,6]. In the food systems literature, it is documented that climate change has the Challenges 2020, 11, 4; doi:10.3390/challe11010004 www.mdpi.com/journal/challenges

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