Turks and Caicos Islands

More documents

Recommendations

Info

4.4. Human Health 4.4.1. Background The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) defines health as including ‘physical, social and psychological wellbeing’ (Confalonieri, et al., 2007). An understanding of the impacts of climate change on human health is important because of its impact on the livelihoods of the people on a local scale and to the economy on a national level. In endemic countries, the environmental and social conditions make particular populations vulnerable to further disease outbreaks. Climate change has the potential to further impact the quality of the environment and the resilience of the ecosystems thereby increasing the risk of disease epidemics. Health is an important issue in the tourism industry because tourists are susceptible to acquiring diseases transmitted by insect vectors. In addition, air travel is responsible for a large number of diseases which are carried from tourist destinations to Europe (Gössling, 2005) and elsewhere in the world. This is highly relevant when one considers that approximately 75% of travellers become ill while abroad, most often from infectious diseases; morbidity is most often due to diarrhoea or respiratory infections (Sanford, 2004). It is also important because it can have consequences for tourist destination demand which is a significant contributor to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Small Island Developing States (SIDS). The potential effects of climate change on public health can be direct or indirect (Confalonieri, et al., 2007; Ebi, et al., 2006; Patz, et al., 2000). Direct effects include those associated with extreme weather events such as heat stress, changes in precipitation, sea-level rise and natural disasters or more frequent extreme weather events. While indirect effects are associated with changes in the environment and ecosystem as well as the impacts to various sectors such as water, agriculture and the economy on a whole (Confalonieri, et al., 2007). Both direct and indirect effects include the impact of climate change on the natural environment and can affect food security and agriculture sector, and increase the susceptibility of populations to respiratory diseases and food- and water-borne related diseases (Confalonieri, et al., 2007; Githeko and Woodward, 2003; Patz, et al., 2000; Taylor et al., 2009). The Turks and Caicos Islands has been classified as a “middle-upper income group country” (WHO-AIMS, 2009). The quality of health care in the Turks and Caicos reflects that of a country with a fairly high standard of living and health care services as demonstrated in very low crude birth rates. See Table 4.4.1 for statistics relevant to the health sector. Epidemiological statistics also indicate that the overall incidence of communicable diseases such as dengue and malaria is also very low on the island. There have been recent developments in the climate change sector with the preparation of the Turks and Caicos Islands Climate Change Green Paper that noted the potential impact of disease outbreaks on the tourism sector, that is, a decline in the number of visitors (Climate Change Committee, 2011b). The draft Climate Change Policy of the Turks and Caicos Islands was completed in September 2011. It focused on environmental education and awareness, the need for increased vector surveillance, increased preventative health care facilities and the strengthening of the health care system in areas related to pandemics and epidemics (Climate Change Committee, 2011a). 60
Table 4.4.1: Selected statistics relevant to the health sector of the Turks and Caicos Islands 4.4.2. Direct Impacts Indicators Statistics Population 36,605 (2008) 1 Unemployment rate 5.4% (2007) 1 Poverty rate 26%(2000) 2 Expenditure on Public Health 6%(2006) 1 Life Expectancy at Birth 75.42 yrs (2009) 3 Birth rate (per 1,000) 12.4 (2008) 1 Death rate (per 1,000) 1.8 (2008) 1 Weather related mortality and morbidity Source: (DEPS, 2009 1 ; Kairi Consultants Limited, 2000a 2 ; WHO-AIMS, 2009 3 ) Mortality and morbidity rates due to injuries sustained during natural disasters such as hurricanes, tropical storms and floods are important considerations when assessing the vulnerability of a country to climate change. The Turks and Caicos Islands are brushed or hit by a hurricane once in every 2.17 years (Hurricane City, 2011). From observed data North Atlantic hurricanes and tropical storms appear to have increased in intensity during the last 30 years and modelling projections indicate that the trend is expected to continue in the future, specifically due to intensification of weather phenomena rather than increases in frequency (See Section 3). The Turks and Caicos Islands Climate Change Green Paper has stated that extreme weather events can impact human populations, either directly through physical bodily injuries or through the disruption of water and electricity utilities (Climate Change Committee, 2011b; ECLAC, 2008) which can then affect sanitation and environmental health conditions. One of the most recent weather events to affect the Turks and Caicos Islands was Hurricane Ike and Storm Hanna in 2008. These systems were estimated to have damaged 95% of buildings, with the greatest impacts on Turks Islands and on South Caicos (ECLAC, 2008). The Grand Turk Hospital was also damaged. Displacement of persons and loss of shelter are also important because of the associated mental and physical health implications. For instance, due to Storm Hanna and Hurricane Ike, more than 700 persons we left homeless (ECLAC, 2008). Displacement also affected national health staff (PAHO, 2008). The islands of the Turks and Caicos vary in size and geographical features. As a consequence, the health impact to the population varies on each island. Increased temperature and the effect of heat Increasing temperatures can result in heat stress in a population and heat wave events have been found to be associated with short-term increases in mortality globally (Confalonieri, et al., 2007) as well as morbidity related to heat exhaustion and dehydration (Hajat, et al., 2010; Sanford, 2004). The elderly and young are more susceptible than other groups as well as persons with chronic illnesses, people doing manual labour and persons who gain their livelihood outdoors (e.g. construction workers and fishermen). Increased temperatures can have a negative impact on persons prone to, or suffering from cardiovascular diseases (Cheng and Su, 2010; Worfolk, 2000) which could be exacerbated by prolonged exposure. In the Turks and Caicos Islands Climate Change Green Paper it notes that if temperatures increase, there is a potential for health impacts due heat stress which include an increase in deaths in persons with heart conditions (Climate Change Committee, 2011b). 61
Page 1 and 2:
Caribbean Regional Headquarters Has
Page 3 and 4:
4.3.4. Women and Youth in TCI Agric
Page 5 and 6:
6.3. Energy Supply and Distribution
Page 7 and 8:
Figure 5.8.2: Relationship status o
Page 9 and 10:
Table 4.1.2: Availability of water
Page 11 and 12:
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The CARIBSAVE Part
Page 13 and 14:
The field work components of the re
Page 15 and 16:
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS
Page 17 and 18:
UKOT ----------------- United Kingd
Page 19 and 20:
Overview Of Climate Change Issues I
Page 21 and 22:
The field study sites include notab
Page 23 and 24:
coastal infrastructure and settleme
Page 25 and 26:
Perceptions of vulnerability in the
Page 27 and 28:
Energy and Tourism Tourism is an in
Page 29 and 30:
Reviewing and considering the feasi
Page 31 and 32:
4. Local watershed management: supp
Page 33 and 34:
Given the importance of tourism to
Page 35 and 36:
Marine and Terrestrial Biodiversity
Page 37 and 38:
terrestrial habitats for the purpos
Page 39 and 40:
1. GLOBAL AND REGIONAL CONTEXT The
Page 41 and 42:
damages from intense climatic condi
Page 43 and 44:
2. NATIONAL CIRCUMSTANCES 2.1. Geog
Page 45 and 46:
Table 2.2.1: Gross Domestic Product
Page 47 and 48: Figure 2.2.1 shows a decline in per
Page 49 and 50: oom for expansion of the fin fisher
Page 51 and 52: The CPA points out that the all-inc
Page 53 and 54: Table 3.1.1: Earliest and latest ye
Page 55 and 56: GCM projections of future rainfall
Page 57 and 58: Table 3.3.4: GCM and RCM projected
Page 59 and 60: Relative humidity data has not been
Page 61 and 62: Table 3.6.1: Observed and GCM proje
Page 63 and 64: Annual Table 3.8.1: Observed and GC
Page 65 and 66: Annual DJF MAM JJA SON Annual DJF M
Page 67 and 68: frequency in the last 1,500 years b
Page 69 and 70: thermal expansion, with only a cons
Page 71 and 72: particularly affected by higher wat
Page 73 and 74: Table 4.1.2: Availability of water
Page 75 and 76: 3). Factors which increase the vuln
Page 77 and 78: 4.2. Energy Supply and Distribution
Page 79 and 80: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Page 81 and 82: Table 4.2.3: Assessment of CO2 emis
Page 83 and 84: Figure 4.2.3: Evolution of electric
Page 85 and 86: - Reduce electricity costs and pric
Page 87 and 88: Figure 4.2.5: Crude oil prices 1869
Page 89 and 90: Climate policy Figure 4.2.6: Fuel c
Page 91 and 92: taxes can also be a highly transpar
Page 93 and 94: number of potential impacts of clim
Page 95 and 96: 4.3. Agriculture and Food Security
Page 97: Caicos Islands stems from the fact
Page 101 and 102: 2000). Thus, despite the fact that
Page 103 and 104: Table 4.4.3: Reported cases of gast
Page 105 and 106: 4.5. Marine and Terrestrial Biodive
Page 107 and 108: Table 4.5.1: Turks and Caicos Islan
Page 109 and 110: Status of wetlands Over half of the
Page 111 and 112: and enforcing adequate coastal setb
Page 113 and 114: Turtle fishery At least two species
Page 115 and 116: Vulnerability of coral reefs to cli
Page 117 and 118: Figure 4.5.4: Unusual amount of Sar
Page 119 and 120: Figure 4.6.1: Grand Turk, The Turks
Page 121 and 122: Table 4.6.1: Impacts associated wit
Page 123 and 124: to identify individual properties,
Page 125 and 126: Figure 4.6.6: Total beach and land
Page 127 and 128: the tourism sector as well, since t
Page 129 and 130: Hurricane Irene (2011) Figure 4.7.2
Page 131 and 132: 4.7.3. Vulnerability of the tourism
Page 133 and 134: greater burden of care as poorer ho
Page 135 and 136: CLIMATE CHANGE EFFECTS DIRECT INDIR
Page 137 and 138: Partnership based on the establishe
Page 139 and 140: each gender group is of the opinion
Page 141 and 142: entity. One of the key resources ne
Page 143 and 144: 5. ADAPTIVE CAPACITY PROFILE FOR TH
Page 145 and 146: The institutional and regulatory fr
Page 147 and 148: 5.1.3. Technology Hydrological and
Page 149 and 150:
equested a rate review to rebalance
Page 151 and 152:
Table 5.2.1: Average weighted emiss
Page 153 and 154:
agree that switching off air condit
Page 155 and 156:
Note: Savings costs of energy effic
Page 157 and 158:
Vast options exist to reduce energy
Page 159 and 160:
5.4. Human Health 5.4.1. Policy The
Page 161 and 162:
Table 5.4.1: Summary effects on the
Page 163 and 164:
weaker social infrastructure. Conti
Page 165 and 166:
end the Turks and Caicos Islands ar
Page 167 and 168:
5.5.3. Technology A high degree of
Page 169 and 170:
Table 5.6.1: Summary of adaptation
Page 171 and 172:
5.6.2. Technology - Soft Engineerin
Page 173 and 174:
5.7. Comprehensive Natural Disaster
Page 175 and 176:
Table 5.7.1: Enhanced Comprehensive
Page 177 and 178:
Related work in needs and vulnerabi
Page 179 and 180:
Early Warning Systems (EWS) An EWS
Page 181 and 182:
50% 45% 40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10%
Page 183 and 184:
distributions based on the gender o
Page 185 and 186:
significant differences in househol
Page 187 and 188:
Table 5.8.13: Source of food supply
Page 189 and 190:
45.0% 40.0% 35.0% 30.0% 25.0% 20.0%
Page 191 and 192:
Social Protection Provision Table 5
Page 193 and 194:
Table 5.8.24: Sample distribution b
Page 195 and 196:
Subsistence Agricultural land (16%)
Page 197 and 198:
Resource Importance River / Stream
Page 199 and 200:
In the event of a hurricane, 90.3%
Page 201 and 202:
Event Hurricane Flooding Storm Surg
Page 203 and 204:
Table 5.8.37: Household Adaptation
Page 205 and 206:
Assessments focussing on the links
Page 207 and 208:
Provide gender disaggregated data a
Page 209 and 210:
Short Term Actions Reassess water p
Page 211 and 212:
Long Term Actions Pursue the concep
Page 213 and 214:
Area Management Foundation (C-CAM)
Page 215 and 216:
6.8. Comprehensive Natural Disaster
Page 217 and 218:
The Fire Service is government-run,
Page 219 and 220:
7. CONCLUSION 7.1. Climate Modellin
Page 221 and 222:
7.3. Energy Supply and Distribution
Page 223 and 224:
7.7. Sea Level Rise and Storm Surge
Page 225 and 226:
REFERENCES Alcamo, J., Moreno, J. M
Page 227 and 228:
CAREC. (2008a). Caribbean Epidemiol
Page 229 and 230:
Contreras-Lisperguer, R., & de Cuba
Page 231 and 232:
http://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUA
Page 233 and 234:
Government of the Turks and Caicos
Page 235 and 236:
Hu, A., Meehl, G., Han, W., & Yin,
Page 237 and 238:
Lime Turks & Caicos Islands. (2011)
Page 239 and 240:
OECD (2010). Taxation, Innovation a
Page 241 and 242:
Stern, N. (2006). The Economics of
Page 243 and 244:
Wetherell, G. (2010). Third Quarter
show all

Turks and Caicos Islands

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?