DOCSLIB.ORG

The Most Recent View of Vulnerability

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Most Recent View of Vulnerability 2.3 The most recent view of vulnerability Stefan Schneiderbauer, Elisa Calliari, Unni Eidsvig Michael Hagenlocher 2.3.1 for understanding, assessing and re- political/institutional situation and ducing risks. When a hazardous event does not account for power relations The importance of occurs — be it of natural, technolog- or the heterogeneity within commu- vulnerability for ical or man-made origin — the vul- nities, which are aspects considered as disaster risk nerability of exposed people, objects important and included in the defini- (e.g. critical infrastructure, etc.) and tions proposed by other authors (Car- assessment systems (e.g. socioecological systems) dona et al., 2012; Alexander, 2013; at different scales is key to determine Birkmann et al., 2013; Wisner, 2016) 2.3.1.1 the severity of the impact. Though Vulnerability: a key this fact has been widely accepted, component to the definition of vulnerability and determine risks the components it comprises varies Vulnerability represents between different authors and disci- a fundamental Disaster risk is determined by the plines. combination of physical hazards and component of risk. A the vulnerabilities of exposed ele- The United Nations Office for Disas- proper understanding of ments. Vulnerability relates to the sus- ter Risk Reduction (UNISDR Termi- vulnerability comprising ceptibility of assets such as objects, nology, 2017) defines vulnerability as its dimensions as well systems (or part thereof) and popula- ‘the characteristics and circumstances as its root causes is tions exposed to disturbances, stress- of a community, system or asset that important for effective ors or shocks as well as to the lack of make it susceptible to the damaging risk assessment and risk capacity to cope with and to adapt to effects of a hazard. This definition these adverse conditions. Vulnerabili- reflects the last decades’ shift in the reduction. ty is dynamic, multifaceted and com- understanding of vulnerability from posed of various dimensions, all of a focused concept (for example limit- which have to be considered within a ed to physical resistance of engineer- holistic vulnerability assessment. ing structures) to a more holistic and The significance of vulnerability for systemic approach. At the same time, assessing risk is emphasised by the Vulnerability plays a fundamental role it does not provide reference to the fact that the consequences of a haz- 70 CHAPTER 2 UNDERSTANDING DISASTER RISK: RISK ASSESSMENT METHODOLOGIES AND EXAMPLES ardous event largely depend on hu- Abruzzo. It is in part explained by the poor black and elderly population in man factors. That is, the hazardous risk perception among female victims, New Orleans in 2005 (Cutter et al., event itself may be predominantly an who tend to be more fatalistic than 2006). external phenomena out of the con- men and who perceived their homes trol of those affected; any devastating as a refuge, instead of leaving it (Al- Addressing vulnerability — together impact caused by this event, however, exander, 2010; Alexander and Magni, with exposure — represents the gate- is mainly influenced by inherent soci- 2013). way for risk reduction measures. Con- etal conditions and processes. sequently, the importance of vulner- The degree of vulnerability within a ability for DRM is underlined by the The L’Aquila earthquake in April society or a population group is usu- Sendai framework for disaster risk re- 2009 in Italy is an example of a me- ally not homogenously distributed; duction, claiming that understanding dium-power seismic event that had a social class, ethnic origin, age and disaster risk (Priority 1) and develop- disproportionately large human im- gender may determine a lower or ing related policies and practices need pact. It caused 308 fatalities, most of higher probability of being affected. to consider the various dimensions of which were the young and elderly, as Evidence of this fact has been shown vulnerability (UNISDR, 2015a). well as women. The death toll is par- by the impact of Hurricane Katrina, tially linked to the high vulnerability which caused a disproportionately of building stock in the mountains of high number of victims amongst the BOX 2.1 Resilience and capacities Besides the notion of ‘vulnerability’ standing of resilience incorporates Horizon 2020 project ‘resilens’ is there are other terms and concepts the ability and willingness to learn, scrutinising the resilience of Euro- addressing the possibility of harm to reorganise and to undertake crit- pean critical infrastructure. to a system, people or specific ob- ical self-reflection (Alexander 2013; jects by certain events and process- Kelman et al., 2016). Climate resil- Just as the term ‘resilience’, the es. Vulnerability – understood as a ience has emerged into a new doc- concept of capacities relates to the holistic and systemic concept – is trine under the umbrella of which possibilities and abilities to reduce closely related to and partly over- communities define the activities to harm under hazardous conditions. laps, for example, with the concepts combat the impending implications Hereby, ‘coping capacity’ rather of resilience and of coping and of climate change. deals with the short-term conser- adaptive capacity. vation and protection of the current There are numerous related ac- system and institutional settings, ‘Resilience’ is a term that has been tivities within Europe, for example whilst ‘adapting capacity’ denotes a widely used over the last years to the RESIN project is investigating longer-term and constantly unfold- describe characteristics related to climate resilience in European cit- ing process of learning (Birkmann the ability to absorb stresses, to ies, the European Commission’s et al., 2013). respond to changes and to recov- FP7 project emBRACE has focused er from shocks. Some authors see on community resilience and de- resilience as the positive flipside veloped a set of key indicators for of vulnerability. A broader under- assessing it, and the Commission’s 71 2.3.1.2 posure or capacities, and that elabo- physical, the ecological, the social, Conceptual issues and rate on vulnerability’s key dimensions. the economic, the cultural and the dimensions of The European project ‘Methods for institutional dimension. All of these vulnerability the improvement of vulnerability as- dimensions have to be considered sessment in Europe’ (MOVE) devel- within a holistic vulnerability study. Just as there are numerous definitions oped such a concept, which attempts The majority of assets and systems of the term ‘vulnerability’, there ex- to represent the multifaceted nature exposed to hazard will exhibit more ist many models and concepts that of vulnerability (Figure 2.10). In its than one dimension of vulnerability describe vulnerability in its relation central part, it identifies six themat- and hence these dimensions need to to other terms, such as resilience, ex- ic dimensions of vulnerability: the be addressed more in detail for any FIGURE 2.10 The MOVE framework to conceptualise vulnerability Source: Birkmann et al. (2013) ENVIRONMENT HAZARDS Hazard Natural events / socio-natural events intervention Interactions COUPLING ADAPTATION SOCIETY VULNERABILITY Vulnerability EXPOSURE SUSCEPTIBILITY LACK OF intervention and FRAGILITY RESILIENCE Exposure Physical Capacity to reduction Ecological anticipate Temporal Social Capacity to Susceptibility reduction Spatial Economic cope Cultural Capacity to Resilience Institutional recover improvement RISK GOVERNANCE RISK Organization / planning / Economic / social / environmental potential impact implementation 72 CHAPTER 2 UNDERSTANDING DISASTER RISK: RISK ASSESSMENT METHODOLOGIES AND EXAMPLES assessment (Birkmann et al., 2013). a number of challenges. Most impor- (see Chapter 2.4). This framework is particularly useful tantly, the majority of non-physical within the context of disaster risk aspects of vulnerability are not meas- Due to the conceptual complexity and since it embeds vulnerability in the urable in the way in that we are able methodological challenges connected wider framework of risk governance/ to determine temperature or people’s with vulnerability, the uncertainties of management and emphasises the var- income. Consequently, alternative vulnerability assessments and their re- ious intervention opportunities that methods for assessing vulnerability sults is a topic of ongoing discussion. may be taken to reduce risk. are applied. They can be quantitative The uncertainties are an aggregation or qualitative or a mix of both (see of uncertainties from several sources. A key initial question when scruti- Chapter 2.3.4). Widely applied and They include limitations in knowledge nising vulnerability is who or what is accepted tools comprise vulnerability about the socioecological systems that vulnerable to what type of threat or curves predominantly used for assess- the vulnerable elements are part of as hazard. This leads to the question of ing physical vulnerabilities and the well as inaccuracies of empirical data how the interactions between hazards use of (proxy-) indicators, particu- and limitations of models applied for and vulnerabilities look like. In fact, larly to estimate the vulnerability of vulnerability assessments. there are significant differences in the non-physical dimensions (for example way the various factors that determine social, economic or institutional vul- Uncertainty can be classified in many vulnerability are linked or connected nerabilities). Here,
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Poverty and Climate Change Reducing the Vulnerability of the Poor Through Adaptation
    Poverty and Climate Change Reducing the Vulnerability of the Poor through Adaptation prepared by: African Development Bank Asian Development Bank Department for International Development, United Kingdom Directorate-General for Develop- ment, European Commission Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, Germany Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Development Cooperation, The Netherlands Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development United Nations Development Programme United Nations Environment Programme The World Bank II Contents List of Boxes, Figures, Tables, Acronyms and Abbreviations IV Foreword V Acknowledgements VI Executive Summary IX Poverty Reduction – the Challenge of the 21st Century IX Climate Change is Happening and Will Increasingly Affect the Poor IX Adaptation is Necessary X Strengthening Adaptation Efforts XI Next Steps XII Part 1: Climate Change and the Poor 1 1.1 Climate Change is a Reality 1 1.2 Developing Countries Will Be Particularly Affected 5 1.3 Adaptation is a Necessity 5 1.4 Existing Vulnerability to Climate Variability 5 1.5 Already Stressed Coping Capacities 6 1.6 Climate Change Compounding Existing Risks and Vulnerabilities 7 1.7 Implications for Poverty Eradication 11 Part 2: Adaptation Lessons from Past Experience 15 2.1 Addressing Vulnerability in the Context of Sustainable Livelihoods 15 2.2 Equitable Growth and Adaptation to Climate Change 19 2.3 Improving Governance to Mainstream Climate Issues in Poverty Reduction 24 Part 3: The Way Forward 29 3.1 Mainstream Adaptation into Sustainable
    [Show full text]
  • Exposure and Vulnerability
    Determinants of Risk: 2 Exposure and Vulnerability Coordinating Lead Authors: Omar-Dario Cardona (Colombia), Maarten K. van Aalst (Netherlands) Lead Authors: Jörn Birkmann (Germany), Maureen Fordham (UK), Glenn McGregor (New Zealand), Rosa Perez (Philippines), Roger S. Pulwarty (USA), E. Lisa F. Schipper (Sweden), Bach Tan Sinh (Vietnam) Review Editors: Henri Décamps (France), Mark Keim (USA) Contributing Authors: Ian Davis (UK), Kristie L. Ebi (USA), Allan Lavell (Costa Rica), Reinhard Mechler (Germany), Virginia Murray (UK), Mark Pelling (UK), Jürgen Pohl (Germany), Anthony-Oliver Smith (USA), Frank Thomalla (Australia) This chapter should be cited as: Cardona, O.D., M.K. van Aalst, J. Birkmann, M. Fordham, G. McGregor, R. Perez, R.S. Pulwarty, E.L.F. Schipper, and B.T. Sinh, 2012: Determinants of risk: exposure and vulnerability. In: Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation [Field, C.B., V. Barros, T.F. Stocker, D. Qin, D.J. Dokken, K.L. Ebi, M.D. Mastrandrea, K.J. Mach, G.-K. Plattner, S.K. Allen, M. Tignor, and P.M. Midgley (eds.)]. A Special Report of Working Groups I and II of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, and New York, NY, USA, pp. 65-108. 65 Determinants of Risk: Exposure and Vulnerability Chapter 2 Table of Contents Executive Summary ...................................................................................................................................67 2.1. Introduction and Scope..............................................................................................................69
    [Show full text]
  • Assessing the Relationship Between Social Vulnerability, Social Capital, and Housing Resilience
    sustainability Article Assessing the Relationship between Social Vulnerability, Social Capital, and Housing Resilience Sebastian Rowan * and Kyle Kwiatkowski Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824, USA; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected] Received: 27 August 2020; Accepted: 17 September 2020; Published: 18 September 2020 Abstract: Social vulnerability and social capital have been shown to influence how severely communities are impacted by natural hazards and how quickly they recover. Indices exist to quantify these factors using publicly available data; however, more empirical research is needed to validate these indices and support their use in pre-disaster planning and decision making. Using data from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and data gathered through imagery analysis in Google Earth, this study evaluates the effectiveness of two indices of social vulnerability and social capital to predict housing impacts and rates of recovery in Florida and Puerto Rico following Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017. We found the social vulnerability index to be statistically significant in explaining the variation of housing impacts in both case studies, with varying results for the sub-indices of social vulnerability. Results for the social capital index were mixed between the case studies, and we found no statistically significant relationship between any of the indices and rates of housing recovery. Our results show that indices such as these can be useful, with an awareness of limitations, for researchers and emergency practitioners, and additional empirical analysis is needed to more fully support their efficacy for resilience assessment. Keywords: social vulnerability; social capital; index; disaster; housing; recovery; resilience 1.
    [Show full text]
  • The Convergence of Vulnerable Characteristics and Health Insurance in the US Leiyu Shi*
    Social Science & Medicine 53 (2001) 519–529 The convergence of vulnerable characteristics and health insurance in the US Leiyu Shi* Department of Health Policy and Management, Primary Care Policy Center for the Underserved, Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene & Public Health, 624North Broadway/Room 409,Baltimore, MD 21205-1996, USA Abstract This study defines vulnerability as a multi-dimensional construct, reflected in the convergence of predisposing, enabling, and need attributes of risk. Using race, income, and self-perceived health status as indicators and based on eight rounds of the US 1996 panel of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, the study examined how the interactions of these vulnerable characteristics affect insurance coverage, a critical measure of health care access. The results of the study demonstrate insurance coverage does vary with the extent of vulnerability. While race and income significantly influence insurance coverage, respectively, there was relatively little disparity in insurance due to health status. Between race and income, income was a more significant predictor of lack of insurance coverage since low-income people regardless of race and health were significantly more likely to be uninsured or partially insured. However, it is important to note that minorities were disproportionately over-represented in the low-income or bad health groups so that any adverse association between income, bad health, and insurance status would affect minorities significantly more than whites. Among those with insurance, the most vulnerable group, the minority-low-income-bad health group or those with all the three vulnerability indicators, were most likely to be publicly insured. A policy implication is to target limited resources on insurance coverage for the more vulnerable groups, those with a convergence or cluster of predisposing, enabling, and need attributes of risk.
    [Show full text]
  • Public Health Hazard Vulnerability Assessment Table of Contents Executive Summary
    PUBLIC HEALTH HAZARD VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive summary .......................................................................3 Introduction ..................................................................................4 Methods .......................................................................................6 Hazards and health security in Oregon ..........................................6 Flooding ........................................................................................9 Wildfires .....................................................................................12 Winter storms .............................................................................14 Health security for vulnerable populations ....................................15 Conclusions ................................................................................18 Footnotes ....................................................................................19 2 Public Health Hazard Vulnerability Assessment EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This assessment reviews potential disasters and the consequences for the health of Oregon’s population and the public health sector. Local health departments, tribal health agencies, and their emergency management partners reviewed 43 possible natural hazards and human-made threats; and they prioritized three weather-related disasters as most likely to occur: wildfires, winter storms, and flooding. Eleven additional hazards were identified as possible events meriting public health attention. It
    [Show full text]
  • The Assessment of Climate Change-Related Vulnerability in The
    The assessment of climate change-related vulnerability in the agricultural sector: reviewing conceptual frameworks Thomas Fellmann Department of Economics, Pablo de Olavide University, Seville, Spain 1. CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVES OF THE PAPER Climate change is expected to impact on the agricultural sector in multiple ways, among others through increased variability with regard to temperature, rain, frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, changes in rain patterns and in water availability and through perturbations in ecosystems. The main effects on agricultural production are expected to be an increased variability of production, decrease of production in certain areas and changes in the geography of production. One way to cope with the challenges comprised by climate change is to build resilience for adaptation in the agriculture sector. The OECD and the FAO are working together on an analytical report that focuses on building resilience in agricultural production systems in the context of climate change. The report intents to respond to key policy concerns regarding climate change, its impact on agriculture and the implications for food security. For the analytical report, a general overview on climate change change-related risks and vulnerabilities will be provided by other contributors to the report. Furthermore, in order to illustrate specificities relative to addressing risks and vulnerability in agriculture, four thematic case studies will be carried out, capturing agricultural production systems in both developed and developing countries. In the context of the analytical report the objective of this paper is to provide a review of conceptual frameworks for the assessment of climate change-related vulnerability and give some examples of their application to the agricultural sector.
    [Show full text]
  • On Measuring Vulnerability to Poverty*
    On Measuring Vulnerability to Poverty Indranil Dutta James Foster University of Manchester, UK George Washington University, USA Ajit Mishra University of Bath, UK ABSTRACT There is a growing interest on dynamic and broader concepts of depri- vation such as vulnerability, which takes in to account the destitution of individuals from future shocks. We use the framework of decision making under uncertainty to arrive at a new measure of vulnerability to poverty. We highlight the importance of current standard of living to better capture the notion of vulnerability. In conceptualizing the new class of measures of vulnerability we thus move beyond the standard expected poverty measures that is commonly found in the literature. We also axiomatically characterize the new class of measure and discuss some of it’sproperties. April, 2010. We are highly indebted to Tony Shorrocks for introducing us to this topic and for his constant encouragement and generous support. We are grateful to Sabina Alkire, Joydeep Dutta, Sashi Nandiebam, Prasanta Pattanaik, Horst Zank and conference and seminar participants at the University of Bath, University of Manchester, UC Riverside, OPHI, Oxford and WIDER, Helsinki and RES, Surrey for their comments. We are also grateful to an anonymous referee whose comments have signi…cantly improved the paper. 1 Introduction In recent years development policy has increasingly been linked to poverty reduction. While it is important to focus on poverty, there is a growing recognition that reducing just the level of poverty may
    [Show full text]
  • Concepts and Measurement of Vulnerability to Poverty and Other Issues: a Review of Literature
    ADBI Working Paper Series CONCEPTS AND MEASUREMENT OF VULNERABILITY TO POVERTY AND OTHER ISSUES: A REVIEW OF LITERATURE Tomoki Fujii No. 611 November 2016 Asian Development Bank Institute Tomoki Fujii is an associate professor of economics at Singapore Management University. The views expressed in this paper are the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of ADBI, ADB, its Board of Directors, or the governments they represent. ADBI does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this paper and accepts no responsibility for any consequences of their use. Terminology used may not necessarily be consistent with ADB official terms. Working papers are subject to formal revision and correction before they are finalized and considered published. The Working Paper series is a continuation of the formerly named Discussion Paper series; the numbering of the papers continued without interruption or change. ADBI’s working papers reflect initial ideas on a topic and are posted online for discussion. ADBI encourages readers to post their comments on the main page for each working paper (given in the citation below). Some working papers may develop into other forms of publication. Suggested citation: Fujii, T. 2016. Concepts and Measurement of Vulnerability to Poverty and Other Issues: A Review of Literature. ADBI Working Paper 611. Tokyo: Asian Development Bank Institute. Available: https://www.adb.org/publications/concepts-and-measurement-vulnerability-poverty Please contact the author for information about this paper. Email: [email protected] ADB recognizes “China” as the People’s Republic of China. Asian Development Bank Institute Kasumigaseki Building, 8th Floor 3-2-5 Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda-ku Tokyo 100-6008, Japan Tel: +81-3-3593-5500 Fax: +81-3-3593-5571 URL: www.adbi.org E-mail: [email protected] © 2016 Asian Development Bank Institute ADBI Working Paper 611 T.
    [Show full text]
  • Social Vulnerability Index (Sovi) Is a Quantitative Measure of Social Vulnerability to Environmental Hazards
    2. SOCIAL VULNERABILITY Background The concept of vulnerability, or the potential for harm, first introduced into the hazards and disasters literature in the 1970s, provided a means for understanding the interactions between social and ecological systems. It also provided understanding on how such interactions give rise to hazards and disasters (O’Keefe et al., 1976). Vulnerability explains the differential impacts of shocks or stressors to natural systems and the ability of those systems to absorb and withstand impacts (biophysical vulnerability). A companion construct, social vulnerability, provides the societal context within which such stressors operate and highlights the uneven capacity for preparedness, response, recovery, and adaptation to environmental threats in and across social systems. Conceptually, vulnerability is understood to be inherent in the social system, independent of the hazard (Cutter et al., 2000 and 2003). However, to fully understand and characterize the hazards of places, measures of the physical characteristics of hazards and the environment (i.e., hazard exposure) must be combined with those social, economic, and demographic characteristics that influence a community’s ability to prepare for, respond to, cope with, recover from, and ultimately adapt to environmental hazards (Cutter et al., 2000). Vulnerability is widely used in the hazards, disasters, and human dimensions of global change literature to describe the differential impacts of environmental threats on people and the places where they live and work (Pelling, 2003; Wisner et al., 2004; Adger, 2006; Birkmann, 2006; Eakin and Luers, 2006; Fussell, 2007; Polsky et al., 2007). The Social Vulnerability Index (SoVI) is a quantitative measure of social vulnerability to environmental hazards.
    [Show full text]
  • Vulnerability Assessment Method Pocket Guide
    CHILDREN AND FAMILIES The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit EDUCATION AND THE ARTS institution that helps improve policy and ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT decisionmaking through research and analysis. HEALTH AND HEALTH CARE This electronic document was made available INFRASTRUCTURE AND from www.rand.org as a public service of the TRANSPORTATION RAND Corporation. INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS LAW AND BUSINESS NATIONAL SECURITY Skip all front matter: Jump to Page 16 POPULATION AND AGING PUBLIC SAFETY SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Support RAND Purchase this document TERRORISM AND HOMELAND SECURITY Browse Reports & Bookstore Make a charitable contribution For More Information Visit RAND at www.rand.org Explore the RAND Arroyo Center View document details Limited Electronic Distribution Rights This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law as indicated in a notice appearing later in this work. This electronic representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for non- commercial use only. Unauthorized posting of RAND electronic documents to a non-RAND website is prohibited. RAND electronic documents are protected under copyright law. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of our research documents for commercial use. For information on reprint and linking permissions, please see RAND Permissions. This report is part of the RAND Corporation tool series. RAND tools may include models, databases, calculators, com- puter code, GIS mapping tools, practitioner guidelines, web applications, and various toolkits. All RAND tools undergo rigorous peer review to ensure both high data standards and appropriate methodology in keeping with RAND’s commit- ment to quality and objectivity. VAMVulnerability Assessment Method Pocket Guide A TOOL FOR CENTER OF GRAVITY ANALYSIS Christopher M.
    [Show full text]
  • Violence Against Women As 'Relational' Vulnerability
    2014 UNDP Human Development Report Office OCCASIONAL PAPER Violence against Women as ‘Relational’ Vulnerability: Engendering the Sustainable Human Development Agenda Naila Kabeer Naila Kabeer is a professor of gender and development at the Gender Institute, London School of Economics and Political Science. She has over 25 years of experience carrying out research, teaching, training and advisory work in the interrelated fields of gender, poverty, social exclusion, labour markets and social protection. Her recent publications include “Mainstreaming gender and social protection in the informal economy” (Commonwealth Secretariat), “Do the MDGs provide a pathway to social justice?” (United Nations MDG Achievement Fund) and “Organising women in the informal economy: beyond the weapons of the weak” (Zed Press). She is on the advisory board for the journals Feminist Economics, Development and Change, Gender and Development and Third World Quarterly. ABSTRACT Violence against women can be conceptualized as a ‘relational vulnerability’, reflecting women’s subordinate status within hierarchical gender relations and the dependencies associated with it. While such violence can take many different forms, this paper focuses on the interpersonal violence of ‘normal’ times, most often within the home at the hands of intimate partners. The paper provides estimates of incidence, which suggest that it varies considerably across countries and by social group. Factors that lead to violence against women operate at individual, relational, community and societal levels, and help to explain some of this variation. They also suggest the need for interventions operating at these different levels. In conclusion, the paper argues that not only is violence against women and girls a fundamental violation of their human rights, but also has serious consequences for their well- being and capabilities, and imposes significant economic costs.
    [Show full text]
  • Methods of Assessing Human Health Vulnerability and Public Health Adaptation to Climate Change
    Health and Global Environmental Change SERIES No. 1 Methods of assessing human health vulnerability and public health adaptation to climate change WMO UNEP Health and Global Environmental Change SERIES No. 1 Methods of assessing human health vulnerability and public health adaptation to climate change Lead authors: Sari Kovats, Kristie L. Ebi and Bettina Menne Contributing authors: Diarmid Campbell-Lendrum, Osvaldo F.Canziani, Andrew Githeko, Katrin Kuhn, David Le Sueur, Pim Martens, Anthony J. McMichael, Anna Rosa Moreno, Jonathan Patz, Dieter Riedel, Joel Scheraga, Elisabeth Seymour, Michael Sharpe and Roger Street Steering Committee: Carlos Corvalan, Hiremagalur Gopalan, Buruhani Nyenzi and Jacinthe Seguin WMO UNEP Abstract The fact that climate is changing has become increasingly clear over the past decade. Recent evidence suggests that the associated changes in temperature and precipitation are already adversely affecting population health.The future burden of disease attributable to climate change will depend in part on the timeliness and effectiveness of the interventions implemented. In response to these changing risks, the Third Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health in London in 1999 recommended developing the capacity to undertake national assessments of the potential health effects of climate variability and change, with the goal of identifying: 1) vulnerable populations and subgroups and 2) interventions that could be implemented to reduce the current and future burden of disease.The need to facilitate the transfer
    [Show full text]