The Climate Crisis is Already Impacting Indigenous Communities

When people think of climate change, it is not uncommon to picture far off natural events that we have time to stop. But, the climate crisis has already arrived and Brazil’s indigenous communities are feeling its effects.

Indigenous people have reported a decrease in rainfall, more droughts and forest fires, food insecurity and dry river-bends within their communities. Diseases that have previously been under control like measles and yellow fever have also begun to reappear. This is particularly inconvenient, as indigenous people are currently dealing with the coronavirus outbreak and are more vulnerable to Covid-19 than other groups.

Indigenous communities are taking action to adapt to and tackle the climate crisis, as well as the issues it has caused in their areas. They have invested in firefighters, begun to use a selection process to grow more heat and drought resistant crops and developed an app that informs them of climate variations. They are showing the rest of the world how we need to act to protect and maintain our planet and our livelihoods.