Climate Change Set To Worsen World Health
Pastor Dale Morgan
Climate Change Set To Worsen World Health *
Malaria is one of the health problems that could worsen due to the
effects of global warming.
by Staff Writers
Brussel (AFP) April 03, 2007
Malaria, cholera, malnutrition, heatstroke and pollen allergies are just
a few of the health problems set to worsen because of global warming,
according to a report prepared by UN climate experts meeting here.
Climate change has already extended the range of mosquitoes and ticks,
helped spread diarrhoeal disease, boosted the length and location of
pollen seasons and pumped up the intensity of dangerous heatwaves, says
the report.
In the coming decades, such problems are likely to amplify and for many
people, hunger and poor nutrition will be added to the mix, it says.
"Adverse health impacts will be greatest in low-income countries," says
the report. "Those at greater risk include, in all countries, the urban
poor, the elderly and children, traditional societies, subsistence
farmers and coastal population."
The 1,400-page document is due to be issued on Friday by the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the top UN scientific
authority on global warming and its impacts.
It is part of the fourth assessment report by the IPCC since it was
founded in 1988 to inform policymakers about man-made climate change.
The previous report was in 2001.
A final draft of the report points out that human health can be affected
in subtle and sometimes poorly perceptible ways by climate change.
For instance, if food production is hit by drought or flooding, that in
turn affects nutrition -- or may prompt a rural exodus that boosts the
population of shanty towns, where overcrowding and communicable disease
can be rife.
A study of the heatwave that struck Western Europe in 2003 found that
nearly a third of Switzerland's excess mortality came from ground-level
ozone -- the pollution caused by a reaction between sunlight and traffic
exhausts, which can be dangerous for people with respiratory or cardiac
problems.
In some cases, says the report, climate change may be positive. In
northerly latitudes, winters will become shorter and milder, easing the
risk to poor and elderly people of cold waves.
But overall, the outcome will be "overwhelmingly negative", hitting most
of all poor tropical countries with water stress, poor sanitation and
shaky medical infrastructure.
One study cited in the report projects that the number of people at risk
of hunger in the Sahel country of Mali will roughly double, from 34
percent today to between 64-72 percent in the 2050s, if nothing is done
to help the population adapt to the threat.
The report puts the spotlight on populations in these areas:
-- COASTAL AND LOW-LYING AREAS: A quarter of the world's six billion
people lives within 100 kilometres (62 miles) distance and 100 metres
(325 feet) elevation of the coastline. Depending on the levels of carbon
pollution in the atmosphere, these areas are at risk from rising sea
levels, more powerful storms, coastal flooding, damage to fisheries and
saltwater intrusion into freshwater resources.
According to one estimate, nearly five percent of the population of
Bangladesh could face inundation if temperatures rise 2 C (3.8 F), the
sea level increases 30 centimetres (12 inches) and monsoon rainfall
rises 18 percent, which are middle-of-the-range estimates.
This could increase to 57 percent of the population in a computer model
of a high-range 4 C (7.2 F) temperature increase, a 100-cm (40-inch)
rise in sea level and a 33 percent increase in monsoon precipitation.
-- MOUNTAIN REGIONS: Glaciers are in rapid retreat in the Himalayas,
Greenland, the European Alps, the Andes and East Africa, causing for
some populations the future risk of water insecurity. Nearly a quarter
of China's population, for instance, lives in western regions where
glacial melt provides the main water source in the dry season.
A warmer climate will enable mosquitoes to live at altitudes that
previously were too cold, while more extreme rainfall will boost the
number of floods and landslides.
-- POLAR REGIONS: Indigenous peoples who comprise roughly 10 percent of
the circumpolar population are "particularly vulnerable" to climate
change, both in threats to their habitat and their lifestyle. Warmer
temperatures will increase the range of disease-bearing wildlife and
badly affect traditional nutrition because of changes in animal
migration and distribution.
Source: Agence France-Presse