Impact of climate change on human heath
Harvard Study Shows Escalating Climate Change Impacts On Human Health, the Environment and the Economy
Climate Change Futures Project Led by a
Findings are being announced today at 11:00 a.m., at a press conference at the American Museum of Natural History, New York
"We found that impacts of climate change are likely to lead to ramifications that overlap in several areas including our health, our economy and the natural systems on which we depend," said Dr. Paul Epstein, the study's lead author and Associate Director of the Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard Medical School. "A comparable event would be the aftermath of flooding, contamination and homelessness witnessed after Hurricane Katrina hit the US Gulf coast in August. Analysis of the potential ripple effects stemming from an unstable climate shows the need for more sustainable practices to safeguard and insure a healthy future."
The Climate Change Futures (CCF) study is comprised of three primary elements: trends, case studies and scenarios, which detail and analyze current climate change related consequences for human health, ecological systems and the global economy. Through two scenarios, the CCF report examines possible impacts of climate change that may impose severe strains on the financial sector.
"As a reinsurance company, our goal is to evaluate and plan for the long-term," said Jacques Dubois, Chairman of Swiss Re America Holding Corporation. The parent company, Swiss Re, is a leading global reinsurance company and a co-sponsor of the study. Dubois continued, "Swiss Re has an ongoing effort to focus on potential economic impacts of climate change. This study adds to this by helping to review areas of increased vulnerability to climate change from a unique perspective. Whereas most discussions on climate change impacts hone in on the natural sciences, with little to no mention of potential economic consequences, this report provides a crucial look at physical and economic aspects of climate change. It also assesses current risks and potential business opportunities that can help minimize future risks."
There are 10 case studies within the report, written by scientific experts, that outline current effects of climate change with regard to infectious diseases such as malaria, West Nile virus, Lyme disease and asthma; extreme weather events such as heat waves and floods; and ecosystems such as forests, agriculture, marine habitat and water. Economic implications as well as possible near-future impacts are projected for each case.
The study shows that warming and extreme weather affect the breeding and range of disease vectors such as mosquitoes responsible for malaria, which currently kills 3,000 African children a day, and West Nile virus, which costs the United States $500 million in 1999. Lyme disease, the most widespread vector-borne disease, is currently increasing in
"While developed nations are not immune to the impacts of climate change, those populations that are already struggling with myriad social challenges will bear the greatest brunt of climate change," said Dr. McNeill.
Background
The CCF project stemmed from a common concern of the Center for Health and the Global Environment at
* Integration of corporate stakeholders in the assessment process
* Combined focus on physical, biological and economic impacts
* Anticipation of short-term impacts, rather than century-scaled
projections
* Scenarios of plausible futures with gradual and step-wise change
* A framework to deal with and plan for climate-related surprise impacts
In September
In June
In August
Organization Profiles
The Center for Health and the Global Environment,
The Mission of the Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard Medical School is to help people understand that our health, and that of our children, depends on the health of the environment, and that we must do everything we can to protect it.
Swiss Re
Swiss Re is one of the world's leading reinsurers and the world's largest life and health reinsurer. The company operates through more than 70 offices in over 30 countries. Swiss Re has been in the reinsurance business since its foundation in
In addition to its role with the CCF project, Swiss Re has made a multitude of other climate change related commitments, including initiating a 10 year programme combining internal emissions reduction measures with an investment in the World Bank Community Development Carbon Fund. The voluntary initiative makes Swiss Re one of the largest global financial services companies in the world to set itself the goal to become greenhouse neutral. In addition, Swiss Re recently committed to join the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX®). CCX® is
United Nations Development Programme
UNDP is the UN's global development network, focused on helping countries build and share solutions to the challenges of energy and the environment, democratic governance, poverty reduction, HIV/AIDs, and crisis prevention and recovery. At the United Nations Millennium Summit, world leaders placed development at the heart of the global agenda by adopting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which set clear targets for reducing poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy, environmental degradation and discrimination against women by 2015. On the ground in 166 countries, UNDP helps the UN system and its partners raise awareness and track progress on the MDGs, while using its extensive network to connect donors and developing countries, private and public sectors and policy advice and programme resources to help nations achieve these goals.
Source: Swiss Re