Climate change is already killing people

Dr Ricardo Navarro, Director of CESTA, a SCIAF-supported charity in El Salvador, says climate change is already killing people.

Dr Navarro is now urging Scotland to drastically cut its greenhouse gas emissions to try to stop climate change running out of control.

The unique mangrove forests of El Salvador are not only a striking natural beauty, but they are an essential part of the eco system. They provide a defence to climate change and the impacts of extreme weather, are a vast habit for diverse wildlife, and a major source of livelihoods for local communities.

Yet, due to rising sea levels, the mangrove trees are being destroyed at a dramatic rate. As a result, local people are struggling to survive. The dying forest has dramatically reduced the crab population, and locals are losing their only source of livelihood. They're struggling to make an income for themselves and their families. Where they used to catch 12 dozen large crabs a day, now they only get two dozen.

It's the people who have done least to cause climate change who are now suffering the most.