Dorte Verner photographs and writes on development, including poverty reduction and climate. Dorte Verner is a photographer sensitive to social and environment issues and give voice to people who likely never would make it to the news.
Dorte Verner photographs and writes on development, including poverty reduction and climate. Dorte Verner is a photographer sensitive to social and environment issues and give voice to people who likely never would make it to the news.

Climate change is already impacting people's lives and livelihoods. The poor and the vulnerable pleople are the most affected.

Climate change is not a phenomenon of the future, it is happening now. Many people across the globe are already feeling it. This portfolio presents insight, through the lens of the people and countries, to the climate's impact on people's lives and well-being. Climate impacts affects water availability for poeple and animals as most glaciers disappear and precipitation is becoming more irregular. That affect rural livelihoods, particular those that are natural resource based such as agriculture, which in turn impact food security.

Indigenous peoples are the most vulnerable to cliamte change as their exisitance is based on natural resources. For example, medicine men can no longer predict and advice the community members based on natural phenomena that is changing, rivers and streams are drying up so no agriculture can be cultivated on river beds. droughts are killing livestock and forcing pastoralist to change thier livelihood strategy, often pushing them to cities where they lack social and other skills to start over.

women and men face different vulnerabilities in a changing climate. migration will increase affecting both sending and receving communities and gender relations often change. More men will move to cities to seek paid employment. As a result, rural women assume the departed males' community role and are left behind with all production and family responsibilities, among others.

See more in Dorte's and co-auhtors' academic journal articles and books.

A woman carrying water for her animals through the Empty Quarter Desert in Oman. A Syrian boy fetching water in a well during a climate induced drought in The Northeast Syria. A young boy and already a climate-migrant by his tent in the outskirts of Palmyra, Syria. In Iran, the semi-nomadic Qashqai peoples can no longer use the birds and other animal behaviors as markers of when to move due to climate change. Dust storms are being coming more frequent  due to climate change, including in Wadi Rum, Jordan, Strong rain storm affecting businesses in Marrakesh, Morocco. When in rain it pours in Mergui Archipelago, Myanmar. These islands are home to the Moken peoples. Their fishing traditions are disappearing with the reduced fish stocks caused by climate and other change. The pastoralists around the World are experiencing more droughts due to climate change, including near Maymand, Iran. Pistachios and other tree crops suffer from an increased frequency of pests due to raising temperatures caused by climate change.  This leads to lower yield, for example in Iran. The climate induced multi-year drought has left all fields bare and barns empty for farmers in the Northeast Brazil. More drought resistant crops are needed due to the reduced precipitation in Tunisia and elsewhere in the Maghreb. The Omo Valley is getting dryer due to climate and other changes. The hot and dry summers force boys walk further to find grass for their goats in Ethiopia and beyond. Climate change induced droughts affect livelihoods. The semi-nomadic pastoralists like the Hamer tribe in Ethiopia go to new and far-away areas with their herds in search for pastures and water. In Kenya, a Turkana woman take her goats to the market to sell in order to pay for school fees for her son. This is because the climate induced drought has wiped out her crops that she used to sell to get money for school fees. The reduced amount or lack of water for irrigation of crops has made some women collect reeds for making brooms to sell in Turkana, Kenya. In the spring and due to climate change, rural women in the Rif Mountains in Morocco have to collect more fodder to feed their animals in the dryer summer month than they used to . The Naga indigenous women experience a  growing season in changing in Myanmar due to climate change. A boy and his baby-goat from the semi-nomadic Dassanech tribe in Omo Valley, Ethiopia are left behind in the village. His elder brothers gone to search for water and pasture for their other goats as climate change is reducing water availability. This is leading to conflicts of the natural resources in some areas in East Africa. The well-being and livelihoods of agriculturalists, such as the Karo tribe, are impeded by the reduced downstream river flow in the Omo River in Ethiopia. The Inuit's traditions and cultures are affected by climate change. Elders recall that the winters were longer and animals used to be plentyfull for hunters and fisher-folks. This women used to ice-fish but now she experiences lower fish stocks in Northern Canada. The overall reduced animal-based food intake affect the health of the Inuit. Most farmers experience changes in weather pattern and seasons. Rain is becoming more unpredictable and frost occur out of season. The natural signs used by the indigenous tribes in the Andes Mountains to provide indications of when it is time to plant are no longer reliable. The majority of glaciers are melting due to the warming climate, including many in the Andes Mountains. This  affects water availability for human and animal use. Some Jordanian Bedouins camp around the capital, Amman. They collect their drinking water and water for other use in buckets due to water scarcity. Storm surges and salt-water intrusion into aquifers are becoming more common due to climate change. This is not only happening in Havana, Cuba but also throughout the World. Sea-level raise is making islands inhabitable in Kuna Yala, Panama. This leads to people losing homes, traditions, and land where their forefathers have lived for centuries. In Morocco, the reduced precipitation is making farmers adapt by irrigating cereal fields that use to be rain-fed. Potato and other crop yields are falling as there is limited water resources available for supplementary irrigation in Iran. Cuban rural lives are changing with the drying climate. Farmers have less crops to take to the markets and that reduces their already low household income. Climate change is making the dry Northeast Brazil even dryer. Brazilian cowboys are losing their livestock as grass and water for animals are no longer available. This results in men losing their livelihoods. Droughts cause a reduction in food intake and many elders and children are suffering from undernourishment in Turkana, the Northwest Kenya. The Kayan peoples in Thailand are refugees from Myanmar. They live on slopes and in other vulnerable areas  that are at risk of mudslides during  storms. The Embera peoples in the remote forested areas of Panama are eating less fish as stocks are reduced because of the raising water temperature in the lakes. Multi-year droughts are becoming more frequent in the Northeast Brazil and poor farmers have not planted for crops in their fields for years due to the the absence of rain. In Panama, the Kuna Yala peoples are already experiencing the impacts of the raising sea level due to climate change . Their and homes are often flooded. Water is becoming scarcer due to climate change. Some communities in Morocco, for example, recycle water to irrigate plants after it has been used to prepare for prayers. The Berber women in Tunisia have to walk further with their livestock to find feeding areas during the recurrent droughts. Moroccan pastoralists serve water to their sheep as the waterholes have dried up as a result of reduced rainfall and increased temperatures. The Syrian refugees in rural Jordan buy water for drinking and store it in buckets. Many refugees collecting water during the drought in Kakuma refugee camp in Northwest Kenya.     
      
Dorte Verner/World Bank  A refugee is transporting water in Uganda.

Dorte Verner/World Bank
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