HUMAN HEALTH

HUMAN HEALTH

Poorer communities will be more vulnerable than richer ones. However, richer countries will also be increasingly vulnerable as their populations age. Health risks can be addressed through various adaptation strategies. Adaptive options to minimise health impacts may include improved and extended medical care services, better housing and air conditioning, water purification and public education. The lack of resources will be a constraint in many regions, but negative health effects can be minimised through a transfer of technological, educational and medical expertise from the more developed nations to the less developed nations.

A significant indirect effect arising from global warming will be an increase in the range of vector-borne diseases such as malaria. Malarial mosquitoes may spread to higher latitudes and higher altitudes, taking advantage of the warmer Approximately 45% of the world's population presently live in the climate zone where mosquitoes transmit malaria. predict that this will increase to about 60% by the second half of, with maybe 80 million extra cases of malaria occurring each year. Increases in food- and water-related infections could also occur, particularly in tropical and subtropical regions. Warmer temperatures, reduced, and proliferating micro-organisms would lead to a higher incidence of diarrhoea, cholera, salmonellosis, and other such infections. Local reductions in could increase malnutrition and hunger, with long-term health consequences, particularly for children.