Global warming threatens to flood Manila WHO

MANILA, Philippines – The World Health Organization (WHO) said yesterday that Asia’s “delta megacities” like Manila and Calcutta in India “could be threatened” by river and coastal flooding brought about by global warming.

WHO noted that sea levels are expected to rise because of increasing temperatures, threatening those living in low-lying areas.

“Millions of people could face disease, poverty and hunger if Asia’s arable lands become unworkable through changes in temperature, rainfall, river flows or pest abundance,” the agency added.

WHO estimates that climate change and variability might be the cause of increase in the number of deaths – now at over 150,000 every year – from malaria, diarrhea, malnutrition and injury from floods. Half of them are in Asia and the Pacific.

“Global warming has already impacted lives and health, and this problem will pose an even greater threat to mankind in coming decades if we fail to act now,” said WHO regional director for Western Pacific Dr. Shigeru Omi.

Omi added the effects of climate change would be difficult to reverse over the short term.

He claimed that while no country would be spared from the health impacts of global warming, the “first and hardest hit would be those where the health systems are already overburdened by disease and where under-nutrition is widespread and education poor.”

WHO listed the possible consequences of global warming as “increased risks of extreme weather events to an expansion in the areas where disease-carrying mosquitoes are active, spreading from the tropics to cooler climates in both the northern and southern hemispheres.”

As part of World Health Day celebration last Monday, WHO urged governments to put health at the center of policies on global warming and encouraged individuals to limit greenhouse gases.

Omi said most of the projected consequences on health are avoidable and controllable through “well known and tested public health interventions like immunization, disease surveillance, mosquito control and disaster preparedness.”

He added that urgent action through changes in lifestyles and attitudes must also be observed to limit greenhouse gases.

“If this does not happen, the effects on the global climate system could be abrupt or irreversible,” Omi maintained.

In Geneva, WHO chief Margaret Chan said the reality of climate change “can no longer be doubted. The effects are already being felt.”

She cited climate-sensitive diseases such as dengue and cholera, which are currently present in South America and Angola, respectively, because of flooding. She also called for more progress in battling malaria.

Chan said the issue of health and climate change should be addressed by leaders of the Group of Eight developed nations at their meeting in Japan next month.

“Not addressing the climate change impact on health would derail their previous investment in supporting countries in development,” she said.

In the Marshall Islands and South Pacific island nations, rising sea levels have already penetrated low-lying areas, submerging arable land and causing migrations to New Zealand or Australia, Omi said.

He said poorer countries with meager resources and weak health systems will be hit hardest because malnutrition is already widespread, with the young, women and elderly at particular risk.

Omi said unusual, unexpected climate patterns – too much rain or too little – will have an impact on food production, especially irrigated crops such as rice, and can cause unemployment, economic upheavals and political unrest.

Dr. John Ehrenberg, WHO adviser on malaria and other parasitic diseases, said unchecked human development has also contributed to the problem. That includes deforestation and an unprecedented level of human migration. As people move, so do diseases.

Omi said governments need to strengthen current systems providing clean water, immunizations, disease surveillance, and mosquito control and disaster preparedness. — AP