Global Health Threats Assessment

Until recently, disaster scholars have been scarcely engaged in climate change debates. Absent from disaster management discussion, scientific assessments on climate change have mainly involved scientists and experts in environment and energy posing key questions including whether or not climate change is systematic or accidental? And what role can be attributed to emissions of greenhouse gases caused by humans? Which models can tell us about future developments? And how much reduction in emissions is necessary to mitigate the risks of climate change? Further, these scenarios are typically taken in the context of 50–100 year time scales and for large areas such as “Europe” or “North America.” These projections about globally significant changes are difficult to comprehend and not easy for people translate into real life (1). More importantly, it has become more evident that climate change will not express itself primarily through slow shifts in conditions over a long period of time, but instead in more imminent climate related disasters. The need for action has become more necessary than ever as an increasing human population puts more and more people and their assets in the path of these disasters, raising the economic risk of such events (2).

Maarten van Aalst (3) discusses mounting evidence that it is more imminent events such as floods, droughts and heat waves that society must quickly prepare for. Already in the past ten years, weather-related natural hazards have been the cause of 90% of natural disasters and 60% of related deaths and have been responsible for 98% of the impacts on disaster-affected populations, the majority in developing countries (4). The World Meteorological Organization reported (5) that the year 2005 b...

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...logical Organization, 2006.

6. Hyogo framework for action 2005-2015: Building the resilience of nations and communities to disasters. Kobe, Hyogo, Japan: United Nations Internation Strategy for Disaster Reduction, 2005.

7. Hilhorst D Bankoff G. Mapping vulnerability: Disaster, development and people. London: Earthscan; 2004.

8. Schipper L Pelling M. Disaster risk, climate change and international development: Scope for, and challenges to, integration. Disasters. 2006;30(1):19-38.

9. Rodolfo KS Siringan FP. Global sea-level rise is recognised, but flooding from anthropogenic land subsidence is ignored around norther manila bay, philippeines. Disasters. 2006;30(1):118-39.

10. Thomalla F Downing T, Spanger-Siegfried et al. Reducing hazard vulnerability: Towards a common approach between disaster risk reduction and climate adaptation. Disasters. 2006;30(1):39-48.