Wednesday, November 16, 2005

Death and warming

Citing an article coming out in Nature today, the Washington Post reports, "Earth's warming climate is estimated to contribute to more than 150,000 deaths and 5 million illnesses each year, according to the World Health Organization, a toll that could double by 2030." Of course, the impact of climate change will be felt most directly by the most vulnerable sections of the world's population, leading to increased rates of diseases such as malaria and ailments such as diarrhea and malnutrition--conditions that are as prevalent as they are only because of the shameful level of social inequality that exists throughout the world.

The Post notes further, "Just this week, WHO officials reported that warmer temperatures and heavy rain in South Asia have led to the worst outbreak of dengue fever there in years. The mosquito-borne illness, which is now beginning to subside, has infected 120,000 South Asians this year and killed at least 1,000, WHO said."

Earlier this month, Climate Change Futures, a project set up by the Harvard Medical school, issued a lengthy report on the health, ecological and economic effects of global warming. A summary of the report stats that "warming and extreme weather affect the breeding and range of disease vectors such mosquitos responsible for malaria, which currently kills 3,000 African children a day, and West Nile virus, which cost the United States $500 million in 1999. Lyme disease, the most widespread vector-borne disease, is currently increasing in North America as winters warm and ticks proliferate." The report is limited in many ways, reflecting the interests of one of the partners in the project, the insurance company Swiss Re, however it has a few useful articles on the health effects of global warming.

Of course, this should also be considered in light of Hurricane Katrina. There is much scientific evidence that the intensity of hurricanes and perhaps also their frequency will increase as the temperature warms. This past hurricane season was the most intense in history, with a record number of "named" storms (reaching into the Greek alphabet for the first time ever) as well as the most intense hurricane ever to be recorded in the Atlantic. See my retro post, which deals with this subject. And also here is another article on Hurricane Katrina and global warming.

And what about the record tornado season in the midwest? I haven't read anything on the subject yet, but I would not be surprised...

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