Population and the environment

Abstract
Indoor Air Pollution (IAP) has become a major concern in India over the years. Large part of the Indian population is exposed to various types of unclean fuels in the household damaging health severely. PM10 and PM2.5 penetrate deep into the lungs and hence has greatest health-damaging potential. The objectives of this study is to analyze the various household characteristics and socio-economic factors that control use of unclean fuel and indoor air pollution are examined and the major health hazards due to IAP are also assessed. Cross-tabulation and custom tables are prepared and Logistic Regression analysis has been done with the SPSS-20 statistical software package. Data from NFHS-I, NFHS-II and NFHS-III of IIPS, Mumbai and GOI has been used to examine the various types of diseases due to IAP and level and trend of various types fuels used in India. Goal number 7 and 8 of MDG calls for environmental sustainability. It is also relevant for MDG goals reducing child mortality and improving maternal health. Though percentage share of household using unclean fuels has fallen substantially by 21 percent between NFHS-I And NFHS-III but more than one-third of women, rural population are vulnerable to the exposure of this pollution.

The study examines the role of one of the largest public works program in the world-the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) - in buffering the negative effects of early childhood exposure to rainfall shocks on long-term health outcomes. Exploiting the spatial and temporal variation in coverage of the scheme, the study estimates the extent to which nutritional insults in early childhood can be offset in the presence of the policy. The study integrates detailed administrative records of rainfall shock and phase-wise roll-out information of NREGS with an unique household level panel data-the Young Lives survey- conducted over three waves (2002, 2006-07 and 2009-10) in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, which follows two age cohorts of children every four years. Using child fixed effects estimation the study finds modest but significant buffering impacts of the scheme on height-for-age of children in the younger cohort, which is robust to alternative measures of drought and coverage. We find this mitigating effect is significant for kids with lower educated mothers and more pronounced for girls than boys.

Studies of population-environment relationships frequently are framed around processes such as population growth, consumption, and modes of production. The role of war and armed conflict, however, has received less attention, despite the fact that these events can quickly disrupt and transform how populations interact with their environments. We use an institutional analysis and development approach to explore the social and ecological factors that drive the relationship between armed conflict and the resilience of resource management activities. The setting is 21 independently controlled community forests and their user groups in the Chitwan Valley of Nepal from 1995 through 2010--a period that spans the beginning, middle, and end of the violent Maoist insurgency in Nepal. We find that armed conflict negatively impacts the ability of community forest groups to provide a variety of conservation programs. Armed conflict also decreases these groups' annual income, which subsequently reduces the benefits the groups can provide for their members. Considering what institutional characteristics increase vulnerability to the negative effects of armed conflict, we found that the highest vulnerability rests with community forest user groups that have more responsibility--such as larger forests--and more frequent bureaucratic activities.

Information on the types of energy used for heating, lighting and cooking among households is important for a number of health and environmental reasons. This paper attempts to profile the different types of energy use for cooking in households in North (Morocco), West (Nigeria), East (Kenya) and Southern (South Africa) Africa. Data from Demographic and Health Surveys as well as the South African Community Survey from 2007 are here employed. Methods of analysis include a proportional rate of households using the different energy sources (paraffin, coal, gas and electricity) and regression analysis to assess if associations exist between characteristics of the household head and their type of energy usage in the household. This latter method produces odds ratios which explain the likelihood of usage by demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of the household head.

The research took three villages in Kulon Progo which have different physiography, Kalirejo as hilly, whereas Tayuban and Pleret as plains. The research aims at identifying 1) The difference between the quality of settlement environment in plain and hilly areas in regard to the influence of physical and socio economy characteristics, 2) Discovering the most influential factor on the quality of settlement environment, 3) The correlation of the physical and social economic variable with the quality of settlement environment. The research employs survey method. The respondent taken in case study are the head of a family. The analysis technique employed in the research is quantitative analysis and supported by qualitative analysis. The research results show that 1) Settlement environment in plain areas own better qualities compared to that in hilly areas. 2) The most influential factor on the quality of settlement environment is the slope factor. It means that settlement environment which has slight slope (plain areas) owns better quality than steep slope (hilly areas). 3) There are significant correlations between the slope, groundwater level, and the level of family income with the quality of settlement environment.

Key Words : quality, settlement environment, plain, hills

Natural hazards have broad impact on whole community equally, but women folk due to gender inequality and gender differences are more vulnerable and hit harder than men. Present paper attempts to understand women’s vulnerability and their coping mechanism by taking a case of 2008 Kosi flood hit Kursela block of Katihar, Bihar. Data was collected from 115 flood-affected women in 2010 using both Qualitative and quantitative techniques. The flood has completely shattered their lives and livelihood. Women face several problems like family displacement, unavailability of food and drinking water, lack of privacy and sanitation, no communication and above all vulnerability to spread of communicable diseases. The problem aggravated for the pregnant women or who lose their near and dear ones. The cycle between flood, poverty and poor relief works put women at the margin and on many occasions they are found in a state of emotional vacuum and mental trauma.

It is important to investigate whether patterns of responsible environmental behaviors such as conservation behaviors and risk and protective factors that influence the development of these behaviors are cross-nationally similar. This study examined a sample of 1866 students in Grade 9 (age 15 years) drawn from schools in Mumbai, India. These students were compared to similar samples in Melbourne, Australia and Seattle in the US using the International Youth Development Study. Students were asked how often over the past 12 months they had “made a personal effort to care for the environment in your daily life (like recycled waste or reduced energy use)?” Engagement in these behaviors 10 or more times per year was used to indicate “conservation behavior”. Rates of conservation behavior for boys and for girls in Mumbai were similar to rates in Melbourne and Seattle. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to examine predictors of conservation behavior in the three samples. Low rates of conservation behavior were found in India. Children internationally have relatively low rates of engagement in conservation behaviors. There are similar cross-national predictors suggesting that efforts to increase conservation behaviors may be similar in different nations.

Relationships are often found between rural livelihoods and environmental variables (e.g. woodland and non-timber forest products can have a positive impact on rural incomes). In many developing countries the poorest populations are often located in marginal locations that are unsuitable for sustained habitation such as those affected by flooding and erosion. Satellite data is uniquely placed to provide fine temporal and spatial resolution data for rapid assessment of environmental conditions. Therefore, if relationships can be found between livelihoods and environmental metrics derived solely from satellite data, it may be possible to create a basic estimate of local livelihoods using remotely sensed data. Data from the Millennium Villages Project (MVP) were used to explore the relationships between socioeconomic conditions and environmental variables derived from satellite data. Statistical associations from spatial regression techniques were identified between satellite-derived environmental metrics and socioeconomic conditions which suggest that there is potential to infer basic livelihood conditions from satellite data. This could provide useful information for identifying vulnerable populations to improve geographic targeting of development assistance, monitoring progress towards the MDGs.

With the onset of climate change and its adverse effects, the focus on disaster risk reduction and management is increasing. Climate related extremes are on the rise and coupled with these are their escalating impacts on human populations. The measurement of vulnerability of populations exposed to climate-amplified risk is increasingly becoming a priority in disaster risk reduction and management initiatives. This research develops a social vulnerability index which is applied on raw, disaggregated census data for the whole Philippines for the years 2000 and 2010. The effort is to determine trajectories of vulnerability between the two census years and investigate the factors that affect the decrease and increase in vulnerability. An analysis of the geographical distribution of changes in vulnerability status will provide an opportunity to assess the factors that contribute to these changes. Assessing changes in social vulnerability at the village level can help identify what particular factors affect the variability of social vulnerability over time. An understanding of these factors that positively and negatively influence vulnerability can contribute significantly to local development efforts and initiatives by targeting specific elements that address the root causes of vulnerability.

Title: Impacts of environmental and climate change on health and mortality
1. Abstract: It is increasingly recognized that for any small, heavily populated and largely agricultural island economy, the environment is one of the essential elements of sustainable development. One of the earliest concerns over the environmental stress both on land and offshore caused by excessive population and development activities was the study undertaken by the Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), the University of Mauritius and the Government of Mauritius over the period 1992 to 1994. The Population Development Environment (PDE) model was prepared to understand the linkages between the three over the period 1990 to 2020 and 2050 under three different scenarios namely Traditional/crisis/ laissez faire, Modern /crises/laissez faire with food self-sufficiency and Modern/boom/garden scenarios. The Mauritian government has itself continued its concern with the environment and prepared the First state of the environment report in 1991. It has since studied various aspects of environmental impact on the population. This study wil (i) compare the outcome of the 1992 PDE model with the latest 2011 report. it will (ii) assess the impact on the health of the population and in particular as a result of the ageing of the population