Download Impact of Climate Change on Human Health and Well

Impact of Climate Change on
Human Health and Well-Being
Dr. A. Karim Ahmed
Director of International Program
National Council for Science and the Environment
Washington, DC
Khwarizmi Science Society
Lahore College for Women University
Lahore, Pakistan
March 29, 2012
Climate Change and Public Health
Giving it a Human Face!
Magnitude of Health Impacts of Climate Change:
4th Assessment Report
(IPCC, 2007)
WHO Estimated Mortality Attributable to Climate Change
(~ 150,000 / year)
Glacier Melting in the Himalayas – Basic Information
(UNEP, 2007)
•
Glaciers occupy 85,000 square kilometers
of the Himalayan Mountains
•
There are 15,000 glaciers and 9,000
glacial lakes in the Himalayan Mountain
range stretching 2,500 kilometers across
Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan, India and China
•
The Himalayan Mountain range feeds water
to 9 perennial river systems, including the
Indus, Ganga and Brahmaputra rivers that
provides lifeline to nearly 1.3 billion people
•
Himalayan glaciers are shrinking at an
average of 10 – 60 meters annually.
•
In Bhutan, the Luggye Glacier has
retreated by 160 meters yearly from 1988 to
1993. In Nepal, in the Dudh Koshi subbasin, glaciers have retreated by 10 – 59
meters per year.
Snow Cover Changes in the Hindu Kush,
Himalayan & Tibetan Highland Region (2002 – 2010)
Earth Satellite Monitoring Data
Ref: ICIMOD, 2011
Indus River Basin Flooding, 2010 & 2011…
Pakistan Flooding / Russian Heat-wave
The Toll in 2010
Pakistan: Over 307,000 sq miles
flooded; 20 million people affected,
with 2000 deaths
Shahdadkot, Sindh Province
300 Russian wild-fires, 2010
Russia: Heatwaves & wildfires
caused 56,000 deaths; $15 billion
estimated damage
Baldin District, Sindh, Sept 2011