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Environmental Burden of Disease Assessment pp 193–226Cite as

Burden of Disease from Climate Change

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Part of the book series: Environmental Science and Technology Library ((ENST,volume 24))

Abstract

Expected climate change may be particularly important in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) due to its already hot and arid climate. Compared with other nations, the UAE has a relatively low level of total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, with an estimated 0.31–0.42% of global emissions since 1994. However, the UAE has one of the highest levels of GHG emissions per capita, consistently ranking second or third in the world over the past two decades. Climate change is likely to have only limited impacts on infectious and diarrheal diseases in the UAE due to relatively low baseline levels of these climate-sensitive diseases. The major impacts of climate change in the UAE are expected to be increased heat stress and possibly increased water- and vector-borne diseases, as well as decreased water availability and food production. The total burden of disease from climate change is inherently difficult to determine due to the many mechanisms through which climate can affect public health and the high level of uncertainty with future climate scenarios, GHG emission levels, and human adaptation measures. Our model includes only the effect of climate change on cardiovascular disease. The results show that climate change currently has minimal effects on human health relative to the other modeled priority areas. There were approximately 410 additional health-care facility visits and three additional deaths from cardiovascular disease in the UAE in 2008 due to the added risks of climate change.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    A World Health Organization (WHO) coding system classifies member states within its six major regions into subregions according to mortality rates (very low, low, or high) in two groups: children 5 years or younger and adult males ages 15–59. The “EMR-B” subregion includes nations in the WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean (“EMR”) region that have low mortality in both demographics.

  2. 2.

    The Masdar Initiative is a multibillion-dollar investment in renewable and alternative energy sources and other sustainability initiatives in the UAE. This initiative includes an innovative plan for the world’s first carbon-neutral and zero-waste city, called Masdar City, located in the emirate of Abu Dhabi. Masdar City will be able to support a population of 40,000 residents and 50,000 commuters sustainably and will integrate sustainable building design, renewable wind and solar energy, “smart growth” city design, wastewater management, and an elaborate public transportation system to minimize its GHG emissions (Raouf 2008). An important goal of this project is to establish Masdar City as a regional science and technology research hub dedicated to alternative energy solutions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Jacqueline MacDonald Gibson, Angela S. Brammer, Christopher A. Davidson & Tiina Folley

  2. Environment Agency–Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

    Frederic J. P. Launay

  3. Health Authority–Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

    Jens T. W. Thomsen

Authors
  1. Jacqueline MacDonald Gibson
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  2. Angela S. Brammer
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  3. Christopher A. Davidson
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  4. Tiina Folley
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  5. Frederic J. P. Launay
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Gibson, J.M., Brammer, A.S., Davidson, C.A., Folley, T., Launay, F.J.P., Thomsen, J.T.W. (2013). Burden of Disease from Climate Change. In: Environmental Burden of Disease Assessment. Environmental Science and Technology Library, vol 24. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5925-1_7

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