DARA today released an executive summary detailing its 300-page 2010 Climate Vulnerability Monitor, re-presenting the report's findings to ensure ease of accessibility.
The Monitor assesses the world's vulnerability to climate change, highlighting the radically different impacts experienced by diverse communities. Designed with input from experts in the field of climate change and relative sciences, its tracks current and expected impacts while striving to engage debate and understanding of the challenges we face as global citizens in rapid response to the Olympian task of tackling runaway climate change before its impacts become irreversible. DARA is currently researching the 2012 Climate Vulnerability Monitor.
"Climate suffering is global and unless measures are taken, the next 20 years will see explosive growth in every climate impact. But we are not powerless. While almost every country has high vulnerability in one major climate impact area, much damage caused by climate change is still readily preventable by a wide range of adaptation techniques."
The report answers such significant questions as:
• Why climate change is responsible for claiming over 300,000 lives each year
• Why virtually every country is vulnerable to climate change, with over 50 countries acutely at risk
• Cost-effective measures exist for dealing with every major climate stress
The Monitor addresses:
A sandstorm on the western shore of Lake Baringo, Kenya. UN Photo by Ray Witlin.
Health Impact "Approximately 90% of the health impacts of climate change involve just three disorders – malnutrition, diarrhea and malaria – and most strongly affect children under the age of five, predominantly in Sub-Saharan African regions and in South Asia."
Hurricane Dennis batters palm trees and floods parts of Naval Air Station (NAS). US Navy/Jim Books.
Weather Disaster "Floods, storms, and wildfires have claimed an average of 27,000 lives every year over the past 20 years. Climate change is already estimated to contribute over 3,000 deaths to that toll each year. By 2030, climate change is projected to be responsible for over 7,000 such deaths if measures are not taken to reduce risks. The deadliest of these impacts today are floods."
A high rate of livestock deaths is reported from Ethiopia’s Ogaden region due to drought and other factors. UN Photo by Gijs van’t Klooster.
Habitat Loss: "The most intense impacts are taking place in Southern and West Africa. But the largest populations at risk from desertification are in India, China, and the United States, which in 2010 have more than 2 million people threatened. That figure will rise to nearly 8 million by 2030. And worst hit among them are low-lying countries, such as small island developing states, nations with large river estuaries, and communities living in arid zones or drylands. Rising sea levels are estimated to cause USD 65 billion in losses each year today, a figure expected to rise to almost USD 100 billion in losses each year by 2030 as coastal lands are quietly flooded, degraded, or completely submerged."
Salesmen in Congo wade through water at a market in Brazzaville, November 2006. IRIN/Laudes Martial Mbon. Source: http://daraint.org/...
Economic Stress: Fact: "The primary sectors of the economy are most sensitive to climate change, in particular agriculture, crops, livestock, and fisheries. Valuable environmental assets such as coral reefs, alpine rainforests, and species are also impacted negatively by global warming. In most cases, the economic impacts of climate change are actually making the rich richer, for example in some sectors of Northern Europe. The worst losses are being felt in countries that are already poor, especially in Africa, Central Asia, and Southeast Asia."
Download the PDF here.
In other news, DARAs news blog reported on the July 20, 2011 special meeting of the UN Security Council's in "Climate change is a real threat to international peace and security", in which UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon called for an accelerated effort to operationalize the Cancun Agreements, particularly those involved in forest protections, adaptation and technology.
Extreme weather events continue to grow more frequent and intense in rich and poor countries alike, no only devastating lives, but also infrastructure, institutions and budgets - an unholy brew which can create dangerous security vacuums ...
(snip)
There can be little doubt today that climate change has potentially far-reaching implications for global stability and security in economic, social and environmental terms which will increasingly transcend the capacity of individual nation States to manage."
Coming in 2011: The Humanitarian Response Index 2011: the Gender Challenge
The Humanitarian Response Index 2011: the Gender Challenge"> An analysis of humanitarian funding in Chad, Kenya, Somalia, occupied Palestinian territories, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Pakistan, Sudan, Colombia and Haiti, which will include interviews with over 400 representatives from 250 organizations evaluating how the effectiveness 70% of OECD – DAC donor government funding for humanitarian crises.
Our research has shown that gender continues to be a challenge. Women and girls that live in areas of armed conflict and disaster suffer the worst consequences of crises due to their heightened level of vulnerability and exposure to risk. HRI teams will research best practices in the way that donors address gender, and other issues, offering practical recommendations to improve the support provided.