The Anatomy of A Silent Crisis The Anatomy of A Silent Crisis

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30 Forum 2009: Climate Change – The Anatomy of a Silent Crisis Climate change is responsible for several hundred million additional people suffering from health problems and several hundred thousand lives lost Every year the health of 235 million people is likely to be seriously affected by gradual environmental degradation due to climate change. This assumes that climate change affects malnutrition, diarrhoea and malaria incidences. 34Furthermore, within the next year over 300,000 people are expected to die from health problems directly attributable to climate change. 34 Malnutrition is the biggest burden in terms of deaths. Climate change is projected to cause over 150,000 deaths annually and almost 45 million people are estimated to be malnourished because of climate change, especially due to reduced food supply and decreased income from agriculture, livestock and fisheries. Climate change-related diarrhoea incidences are projected to amount to over 180 million cases annually, resulting in almost 95,000 fatalities, particularly due to sanitation issues linked to water quality and quantity. Climate change-triggered malaria outbreaks are estimated to affect over 10 million people and kill approximately 55,000. 34 By 2030, climate change is expected to increase the number of people suffering by more than one third and lives lost by more than one half In 2030, approximately 310 million people are expected to suffer from the health consequences related to more pronounced gradual environmental degradation and temperature increase due to climate change. This, in turn, is projected to increase disease levels to a point where half a million people could die from climate related causes. 94 In the future, weather-related disasters are likely to have an even more profound impact on health quality when they cause floods, heat waves and droughts. Although numerous interventions are underway to combat hunger, improve sanitation and reduce diseases like malaria; the percentage of cases attributable to climate change rises in the future and population growth may counteract progress towards disease reduction. Developing countries — especially their children, women and elderly — are most severely affected Over 90 percent of malaria and diarrhoea deaths are borne by children aged 5 years or younger, mostly in developing countries. 21 Other severely affected population groups include women, the elderly and people living in small island developing states and other coastal regions, mega-cities or mountainous areas. 36,95 These groups are the most affected due to social factors like gender discrimination, which can restrict women’s access to health care, and age-based susceptibility as children and elderly often have weaker immune systems. Additionally, people living in certain geographic areas are more affected due factors such as high exposure to storms along coastlines, inadequate urban planning etc. Almost half the health burden occurs in the population dense Southeast Asia region with high child and adult mortality, followed by losses in Africa (23 percent) and the Eastern Mediterranean (14 percent). 91 Africa is also hit
Critical areas of human impact particularly hard by malaria and other insect-borne diseases. Overall, the per capita mortality rate from vector borne diseases (diseases like malaria that are transmitted by insects) is almost 300 times greater in developing nations than in developed regions. The figure below is a startling illustration that shows the disproportionate degree to which developing nations suffer from almost the entire health burden related to climate change. Figure 6 — The world map reflecting mortality related to climate change Source: Climate Change and Global Health: Quantifying a Growing Ethical Crisis, 2007, Jonathan A. Patz, Holly K. Gibbs, Jonathan A. Foley, Jamesine V. Rogers, and Kirk R. Smith 31
Page 1: Human Impact Report Climate Change
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Climate change is here. It has a hu
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The Anatomy of A Silent Crisis The Anatomy of A Silent Crisis

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