Impacts of environmental and climate change on health and mortality

The objective of this study is to characterize the effect of temperature on number of ED visits including specified cause of visit such as heat related disease; heatstroke, myocardial infarction, ischemic heart disease in major cities, Korea.
We conducted a case-crossover study to determine whether the association between temperature and ED visits for heat related disease varies by season or month among 7 major cities’; Seoul, Busan, Daegu, Incheon, Gwangju, Daejeon and Ulsan using a National Emergency Department Information System. The associations between temperature and ED visits for the all visits have positive significance when the overall association is examined at each city ; Seoul (OR=1.011, 95%CI:1.010,1.011), Busan (OR=1.010, 95%CI:1.008,1.011), Daegu (OR=1.006, 95%CI:1.005,1.007), Incheon (OR=1.014, 95%CI:1.013-1.015), Gwangju (OR=1.015, 95%CI:1.013,1.016), Daejeon (OR=1.010, 95%CI:1.009,1.011), and Ulsan (OR=1.010, 95%CI:1.009,1.012). However, seasonal, monthly, and cause of ED visits’ variations were detected among the cities. The association of Heatstroke ED visits and temperature was significant in several cities but there exists monthly variation among cities.In the future, preventive measures must be taken to limit the health consequences of uncertain temperature increase such as heat waves to come.

The adverse effects of dust storms on health have been major issue in several countries. However, the results of the studies on the association between dust storms and mortality are inconsistent. Thus, this study aims to explore the effect of Asian dust storms on daily mortality in Korea.
We used Generalized additive model with Quasi-Poisson regressions. We considered the lag effect of dust and controlled for temperature, humidity, air pressure, seasons and time trends. Also, we performed additional analyses which adjusted for SO2, NO2, and PM10 respectively. We performed a meta-analysis of seven metropolitan cities in Korea to estimate the pooled effects. we found significant positive associations between Asian dust storms and mortality at lag 0 (cardiovascular: 2.91%; 95% CI:0.13, 5.77, male: 2.74%; 95% CI: 0.74, 4.77 and <65 years: 2.52%; 95% CI: 0.06, 5.04), at lag 2 (male 2.4%;95% CI: 0.43, 4.4 and <65 years: 2.49%; 95% CI: 0.07, 4.97), at lag 3 (total non-accidental: 1.57%; 95% CI: 0.11, 3.06, male: 2.24%; 95% CI: 0.28, 4.25 and <65 years: 2.43%; 95% CI: 0.01, 4.91) and at lag 5 (cardiovascular: 3.7%; 95% CI: 0.93, 6.54 and male: 2.04%, 95 CI: 0.08, 4.04) in the NO2-adjusted model.
This study first shows the significant relationship between ADS and mortality in Korea. .

Studies in industrialized countries have documented adverse effects of climate and weather variability on population health. Empirical studies from Africa are few. In response to this concern, an INDEPTH Network study was initiated in collaboration with UNESCO as a coordinated effort to assess the relation Climate Change, Migration and Mortality (CLIMIMO). The ultimate aim is improving current understanding of extreme weather effects, time trends and seasonality and thereby, populations vulnerability to climate change using longitudinal data. A dozen INDEPTH member HDSSs participated at a capacity strengthening workshop in Burkina Faso 2011 that provided the instruments for researchers to analyse longitudinal data and more recently in a data analysis workshop in Ghana 2012. This paper presents data from four African countries Burkina Faso, Ghana, Kenya and Tanzania. Weather data from global observational database, complemented by HDSS-specific meteorological data where available was used. Analyses use time series Poisson regression models, regressing weather condition on the counts of mortality by subgroups of the population. Results show that weather variability is strongly related to mortality with children and older adults being the most sensitive to climate and weather variability-related mortality.

Ensuring environmental sustainability is one of the goals of MDGs. Household environment as an essential pre-requisite of environmental sustainability affects maternal health in a big way. Yet, little has been done in the prevailing environmental conditions that predispose women to morbidity and mortality in predominantly rural India. This study focuses on the impact of societal practices and conditions, household decision-making, access to and utilization of health services that influence maternal health status in rural India.
Analysis of data reveals that likelihood of better maternal health was significantly higher among households that used flush toilet than pit latrine, pipe water than stream water, electricity/gas for cooking than firewood. Toilet facilities, water and cooking environment were poor among many women, exposing them to infectious diseases. Societal status of women played a significant role in maternal health. Ever married women had better health status than those that were single; women who had their first babies earlier than 18 years of age had poorer health status compared to those who had them later and little role of maternal education in household decision-making. Household sanitation and hygiene behaviour were significantly intertwined with maternal health status.

This study examines the impacts of extreme weather conditions, such as sustained cold weather or heat waves on population health and mortality. It also examine variations in their impacts on deaths caused by major diseases and among sub-population groups.

To examine these research questions, we use detailed mortality and environmental data collected from HongKong and Taiwan. This includes about five million death records collected over last three decades from the 1970s, daily meteorological data for the same period and daily air quality data for the last 15 years.

We will use the conventional Generalised Additive Model and a method we are now developing to model and study the relationship between daily mortality and a wide range of environmental factors, especially the impact of extreme weather conditions on daily mortality changes. We also examine intra-population variations in such impacts and identify the vulnerable population. Because our mortality and environmental data cover for a long period, we also intend to examine changes in the impact of extreme weather over time.

The study is expected to shed new lights on the environment-mortality relationship in East Asia, and its major research findings will have considerable policy implications and help to improve risk prevention among the vulnerable population.

The study aims to explore the potential associations between the monthly Acute Lower Respiratory Infections (ALRI) rates among children 0-5 years in four health zones located in Benin (West Africa) and the monthly values of several weather variables by using Pearson correlation coefficients. Only February has similar results in all studied health zone. Particularly dry and cold conditions are associated with increases in ALRI cases. During the other months, significant relations vary across regions but generally coincide with the results relayed in the literature. This research contributes to a better understanding of the temporal and spatial variability of ALRI among children 0-5 years in rural areas of Benin and may help to predict future occurrences of ALRI for the planning of public health activities.

Abstract

Environmentally induced population displacement is a hot topic. Concerns about the consequences of climate change for human populations, the recognition that migration may be one of the most viable adaptation strategies, and the view that such population movements would present security challenges fuel this increasing interest. The process of climate change – and the natural disasters and conflicts it engenders – will add to the scale and complexity of human mobility and displacement. While climate change has been the subject of intense debate and speculation within the scientific community, insufficient attention has been given to its humanitarian consequences. Just as the causes of climate change are being analyzed and their likely effects assessed, it is equally imperative to anticipate displacement scenarios and improve the quality and readiness of our response. This paper examines the population displacement scenario consequent upon climate change. It outlines the hot spots of displacement and impact of climate change on migration. Further impact of drought, storms and floods on human displacement has been pointed out. This paper concludes with some policy measures to prevent the negative impact of climate change on human displacement.

Key words: Population Displacement, Climate change, Migration.

Maintaining health security to the fast rising population under a changing climate has become a major challenge in India. Extremes in hydrometeorological conditions are serious challenges to public health. Floods, landslides, cyclones, and heat and cold waves kill thousands every year. Climate change affects physical capacity of the working class. India loses large number of Daily Adjusted Life Years. Falling availability and degradation of water resources leads to serious health issues. Malaria is likely to affect one-fifth of the country in 3 decades. Water-borne and air-borne diseases spread into new areas. Hiking prices make nutritious food and safe water inaccessible to a large population. Climate extremes result in psychiatric illness in poor people depending on climate sensitive sectors for livelihood. Suicide of hundreds of farmers and the post-traumatic stress disorder syndromes developed after the cyclone and heat wave are examples. Migration of population, both internal displacement and inflow from surrounding countries cause spreading of diseases. A comprehensive assessment of the impact of climate changes on public health and of the challenges in population control in India is made in this paper. Current adaptation strategies and policies have been critically reviewed to provide guidelines for a better policy.

Abstract
Climate change poses serious consequences for humans and ecosystems. For this reason climate change has been an issue of considerable international debate that have dominated the environmental agenda since the mid-1980s. In the context of the significant attention to climate change, it is also debated that men and women are faced with different vulnerabilities to climate change impacts due to existing inequalities such as, their role and position in society and access to resources. Although both men and women are exposed to climate change, women are more vulnerable to the change due to the difference in social roles between them. However, many recent researches fail to identify and analyse separately the population who are at greater risk of climate change. The purpose of this study is to fill this research gap and increase our understanding of climate change and health in relation to gender in the East African region.

Addressing a paucity of research about industrial adoption of environmentally-benign technologies in Africa and, more generally, in tropical developing countries, we examined the Nigerian pulp and paper industry as a case study. Qualitative interviews with upper echelon executives of Nigerian firms challenge conventional expectations that energy intensive industries in developing markets operate amid highly pollution-intensive conditions, within weak or non-existent formal environmental regulatory frameworks, and with limited institutional capacity. Our findings suggest a strong positive relationship between cleaner technology use and business performance of African industrial firms. Our study also suggests the adoption of classical ‘win-win’ integrated preventive environmental strategy, eco-efficiency and green productivity which improves industrial efficiency and profitability. The firms are shown to have moved beyond end-of-pipe technologies and cleaner technologies and adopted industrial ecology and “zero emission” principles with appropriate reuse of the remaining waste streams turning the production system into a sustainable industrial ecosystem.