disaster risk reduction as a sustainable adaptation to climate change 1 mark keim, m.d. centers for...
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Disaster Risk Reduction as a sustainable adaptation to climate change 1
Mark Keim, M.D.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
1 Keim M. Building Human Resilience. Am J Prev Med 2008;35(5):508-516
5th International Conference on Environmental and Occupational Medicine
7-10 April 2010
Climate Change
Definition• “Any changing climate,
over time, whether due to natural variability or as a result of human activity” 2
“Warming of the climate system is unequivocal” 3
2 IPCC Working Group II, Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability, 2007 http://www.ipcc.ch/SPM13apr07.pdf
3 IPCC Working Group I, The Physical science Basis, 2007 http://ipcc-wg1.ucar.edu/wg1/Report/AR4WG1_Pub_SPM-v2.pdf
Global climate change will increase the probability of extreme weather events 2
High precipitation disasters• Storms • Floods• Landslides
Low precipitation disasters• Heat • Drought• Wildfire
2 IPCC Working Group II, Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability, 2007 http://www.ipcc.ch/SPM13apr07.pdf
Definition of Disasters“A serious disruption of
the functioning of a community or a society causing widespread human, material, economic or environmental losses which exceed the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources.” 5
5 UNISDR. (2009). Terminology on Disaster Risk Reduction. Available at: http://www.unisdr.org/eng/library/UNISDR-terminology-2009-eng.pdf
Future trends in extreme weather disasters 2
Drought • Wildfires• Crop failure
Heavy precipitation• Inland flooding• Landslides
Cyclones• Coastal storm surge
Sea level rise• Coastal flooding• Crop failure• Population
displacement
2 IPCC Working Group II, Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability, 2007 http://www.ipcc.ch/SPM13apr07.pdf
The public health impact of extreme weather events
Between 1970-1999, climate related hazards account for 90% of all global disasters 6
• Hydrologic Meteorological
The world’s poor are disproportionately affected 7
6 Center for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) http://wwwemdat.net/index.htm 7 Munich Re Group. Annual Review Natural Catastrophes. Munich Re Group, 2002.
http://munichre.com/publications/302-03631_en.pdf
Future trends in health 2
Increased malnutrition Increased disaster
deaths due to Heat waves Floods Storms Wildfires Droughts
Increased cardio- respiratory diseases
Altered distribution of infectious disease vectors
2 IPCC Working Group II, Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability, 2007 http://www.ipcc.ch/SPM13apr07.pdf
The most vulnerable Small Island
Developing States 8
Coastal communities that are:2
• Poor• Dependent upon
local food• Dependent upon
local water
2 IPCC Working Group II, Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability, 2007 http://www.ipcc.ch/SPM13apr07.pdf8 Ministerial Conference on Environment and Development in Asia-Pacific, 2000 http://www.uescap.org
Disasters are increasing worldwide 9
Due to increasing vulnerability of populations at risk
Interventions must therefore address the causes of vulnerability not merely the response
9 Noji E, The Nature of Disaster. In Public health consequences of disasters. In Noji E, Ed., Oxford University press. 1997
What is human vulnerability?
“Susceptibility to physical or emotional injury”
Factors of human vulnerability• Exposure to the hazard• Susceptibility to harm• Resilience to cope with
or recover from losses
Vulnerability to Natural Disasters
95% of natural disaster deaths occur among 66% of the poorest countries 10
10 Anderson M, Managing Natural Disasters and the Environment. World Bank Washington, DC. 1991
Reducing human vulnerability as an adaptation of climate change
Climate change adaptation policies focus on reducing vulnerability
“Reducing human vulnerability is a key aspect of reducing climate change risk” 11
11 Schipper L, Pelling M. Disaster risk, climate change and international development. Disasters 2006;30:19-38
Vulnerability reduction:reducing exposures
Floodplain management• Dams, levees, weirs
Population protection measures• Evacuation• Mass care
Land use planning and regulation
Vulnerability reduction:reducing susceptibility
Health promotion Health care Poverty reduction Community
planning
Human resilience as a means for vulnerability reduction
Resilience• The ability to cope
with and recover from disasters
Resilience is comprised of:• Absorptive capacity • Organizational
capacity• Adaptive capacity
Human behaviors that increase disaster resilience• Preparedness• Response• Recovery
Sustainable development and climate change 14
Sustainable development reduces vulnerability to climate change• Enhances adaptive
capacity• Increases resilience
Climate change could impede nations abilities to achieve sustainable development• Increases exposure
to hazards• Erodes adaptive
capacity
14 United Nations. 1987. "Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development." General Assembly Resolution 42/187, 11 December 1987. http://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/42/ares42-187.htm
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