Poverty wreaks havoc on human health. According to the World Health Organization, being poor increases a person's chance of being malnourished and getting sick due to poor living conditions, lack of clean water and adequate sanitation, never mind the problems that come along with inadequate access to health care. A new report by the World Bank, Shock Waves: Managing the Impacts of Climate Change on Poverty, reveals that climate change could place more than 100 million people into extreme poverty by 2030. What on earth will this mean for public health? Health care leaders across the U.S. are organizing to address climate solutions and, in doing so, are killing two birds with one proverbial stone. It turns out that reducing sources of climate pollution is also a means of alleviating poverty.
Poverty to Deepen from Climate Change, Report Says
By Karl Writter I November 9, 2015
Climate change could push more than 100 million people into extreme poverty by 2030 by disrupting agriculture and fueling the spread of malaria and other diseases, the World Bank said in a report Sunday.
Released just weeks ahead of a U.N. climate summit in Paris, the report highlighted how the impact of global warming is borne unevenly, with the world's poor woefully unprepared to deal with climate shocks such as rising seas or severe droughts.
"They have fewer resources and receive less support from family, community, the financial system and even social safety nets to prevent, cope and adapt," the Washington-based World Bank said.
How to help poor countries, and poor communities within countries, deal with climate change is one of the crucial issues in talks on a global climate accord that's supposed to be adopted next month in Paris.
Those who say that rich countries aren't doing enough to help the poor insisted the report added emphasis to demands for billions of dollars in so-called climate finance to developing countries.
