Health protection planning for extreme weather events and natural disasters

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 227-236 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giorgos Papadakis, PhD ◽  
Zaid Chalabi, PhD ◽  
Swarna Khare, MSc ◽  
Angie Bone, MBChB, MSc ◽  
Shakoor Hajat, PhD ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Probability Distribution ◽  
Natural Disasters ◽  
Health Impact ◽  
Extreme Weather ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Optimal Decision ◽  
Exceedance Probability ◽  
Nonextensive Statistical Mechanics ◽  
Weather Events ◽  
Decision Option

Objective: There is a need to develop cost-effective methods to support public health policy makers plan ahead and make robust decisions on protective measures to safeguard against severe impacts of extreme weather events and natural disasters in the future, given competing demands on the social and healthcare resources, large uncertainty associated with extreme events and their impacts, and the opportunity costs associated with making ineffective decisions.Design: The authors combine a physics-based method known as nonextensive statistical mechanics for modeling the probability distribution of systems or processes exhibiting extreme behavior, with a decision-analytical method known as partitioned multiobjective risk method to determine the optimal decision option when planning for potential extreme events.Results: The method is illustrated using a simple hypothetical example. It is shown that partitioning the exceedance probability distribution of health impact into three ranges (low severity/high exceedance probability, moderate severity/medium exceedance probability, and high severity/low exceedance probability) leads to the correct estimation of the conditional expected impact in each range. Multiobjective optimization is used to determine the optimal decision option based on the perspective of the policy maker.Conclusion: This method constitutes a robust generic framework for the quantification of impacts and supporting decision-making under scenarios of extreme and catastrophic health risks.

scholarly journals The Effect of Natural Disasters on Cancer Care: A Systematic Review

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (s1) ◽  
pp. s48-s48
Author(s):  
Ralph Xiu-gee Man ◽  
David Lack ◽  
Charlotte Wyatt ◽  
Virginia Murray
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Natural Disasters ◽  
Health Effects ◽  
Cancer Care ◽  
Extreme Weather ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Survival Outcomes ◽  
Patients With Cancer ◽  
Weather Events ◽  
Oncology Care

Introduction:As the incidence of cancer and the frequency of extreme weather events rise, disaster mitigation is becoming increasingly relevant to oncology care.Aim:To investigate the effect of natural disasters on cancer care and the associated health effects on patients with cancer through the means of a systematic review.Methods:Between database inception and November 12, 2016, Embase, ScienceDirect, MEDLINE, Scopus, PsycINFO, Web of Science, and CINAHL were searched for articles. Those identifying the effect of natural disasters on oncology services, or the associated health implications for patients with cancer, were included. Only articles published in English were included. Data extraction was done by two authors independently and then verified by all authors. The effects of disaster events on oncology services, survival outcomes, and psychological issues were assessed.Results:Natural disasters cause substantial interruption to the provision of oncology care. Of the 4,593 studies identified, only 85 articles met all the eligibility criteria. Damage to infrastructure, communication systems, medication, and medical record losses substantially disrupt oncology care. The effect of extreme weather events on survival outcomes is limited to only a small number of studies, often with inadequate follow-up periods.Discussion:To the best the authors’ knowledge, this is the first systematic review to assess the existing evidence base on the health effects of natural disaster events on cancer care. Disaster planning must begin to take into consideration patients with cancer.

Oceans, Natural Disasters and Tourism

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Professor John Swarbrooke
Keyword(s):  
Natural Disasters ◽  
Disease Outbreaks ◽  
Extreme Weather ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Tourist Destinations ◽  
Response Recovery ◽  
Weather Events ◽  
The World

In recent years, the world seems to have seen increasing numbers of natural disasters, affecting coastal tourist destinations as well as places with no connection to tourism. Ritchie noted in 2008 that despite the apparent increases in natural disasters there still seemed to be a lack of research in the tourism field on the management of these disasters covering response, recovery, reduction and readiness (Ritchie, 2008). While things have improved since then there is still some truth in his contention. These natural disasters include extreme weather events such as hurricanes, storms, floods and landslides, and heatwaves as well as disasters in which the weather plays a part, such as wildfires, and disasters that are not linked to the weather at all, such as earthquakes, volcanoes, and disease outbreaks. These natural disasters not only appear to be becoming more frequent but also more severe and sometimes occurring in places which have not seen such things before, and sometimes in major coastal tourist destinations.

scholarly journals Study on the Health Status of Coastal People in Bangladesh After Cyclone Sidr and Aila

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (15) ◽  
pp. 10
Author(s):  
Russell Kabi ◽  
Hafiz T. A. Khan
Keyword(s):  
Natural Disasters ◽  
Research Work ◽  
Extreme Weather ◽  
Health Problems ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Poor People ◽  
Cyclone Sidr ◽  
Weather Events ◽  
The World ◽  
The Impact

Bangladesh is recognized as one of the high-risk countries in the world that is prone to natural disasters. Due to its geographical location, topography, high population density, poverty and lower adaptive competence it is considered to be highly vulnerable to natural disasters in the world. This study was devised following the super cyclone Sidr that hit Bangladesh in November 2007 and cyclone Aila that hit in May 2009 to assess the impact of extreme weather event like cyclone on health of the coastal population of Bangladesh. A total of approximately 1000 households were selected by using the multistage cluster sampling technique from both villages. The study result shows that diarrheal, skin disease and mental health problems increased after the cyclones. The multivariable analysis shows that age of the respondents, gender, monthly income and educational level of the household heads and number of living children in the family have statistically significant effect on causing health problems before and after the cyclone Sidr and Aila. It can be concluded that extreme weather events like cyclones Sidr and Aila making the lives of the coastal people more difficult and also it increases the vulnerability in the society for poor people, elderly, children and women. Since this is a fairly unexplored research area, more empirical research work is needed to establish the impact of extreme weather events on health of the coastal people in Bangladesh.

Central America faces major challenges in 2021

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Natural Disasters ◽  
Central America ◽  
Economic Activity ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
Extreme Weather ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Public Funds ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Civil Unrest ◽  
Weather Events

Significance While governments have begun tentative efforts to restart economic activity, the crisis is far from over. It looks sure to shape the main issues of 2021, exacerbating all the major challenges facing the region. Impacts November elections will see Belize start 2021 with a new prime minister, who will have no honeymoon period. Increased civil unrest will pose greater COVID-19 contagion risks, particularly if people travel to protests. Vulnerability to extreme weather events poses risks of natural disasters that could hit agriculture and further strain public funds.

The facilities manager preparing for climate change related disaster

Facilities ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 28 (11/12) ◽  
pp. 502-513 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clive M.J. Warren
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Natural Disasters ◽  
Natural Disaster ◽  
Disaster Planning ◽  
Extreme Weather ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Current Climate ◽  
Weather Events

PurposeClimate change is predicted to have a significant effect on the frequency of extreme weather events and the occurrence of natural disasters. There is a need for facilities managers to mitigate against potential disruption and prepare for future events. Current practice, however, as illustrated by the literature shows that little risk assessment is currently undertaken with few organisations preparing integrated disaster management plans or business continuity plans to help them meet the challenge. This paper aims to describe the current climate change predictions and the likely consequences for building assets in the face of extreme weather events.Design/methodology/approachThe paper was based on literature review of current climate change data and published research and guidance for facilities managers in preparing risk assessment and disaster plans.FindingsThe research reveals that there exists a divergence between current scientific data relating to potential effects of climate change on the built environment and the level of disaster planning and organisational resilience to extreme weather events.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper provides an overview of the recent changes in disaster occurrence and the potential for increasing climate‐related crisis and disasters which have potential to significantly compromise the ongoing use of an organisation's facilities. The paper concludes that facilities managers need to be proactive in their risk assessment and disaster planning.Practical implicationsThe paper highlights the potential for increased climate change‐related natural disasters. Property assets are likely to be significantly impacted and as a consequence facilities disaster plans should address the issue of natural disaster preparedness. Current literature reveals a limited level of disaster planning is occurring.Originality/valueThe paper provides an important link between current climate change predictions, the increasing levels of natural disasters resulting from climate change and the potential for significant disruption to business facilities. The paper builds on earlier research highlighting the potential for climate‐related natural disaster.

scholarly journals Externalities of extreme natural disasters on local tax capacity

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jhorland Ayala-García ◽  
Sandy Dall'erba ◽  
William C. Ridley
Keyword(s):  
Natural Disasters ◽  
Bilateral Trade ◽  
Trade Flow ◽  
Spatial Models ◽  
Extreme Weather ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Tax Revenue ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Weather Events ◽  
The Impact

This paper studies the impact of extreme weather events on the local tax revenue across Colombian municipalities. We follow a two-step approach to evaluate to what extent a municipality’s tax revenue depends on natural disasters taking place both locally and in its trade partners. In the first step, we estimate a gravity model of bilateral trade and construct a trade flow matrix allowing us to measure the strength of the economic relationships between cities. To do so, we build a novel dataset describing the inter-city trade flows for road transported goods in Colombia for the period 2015–2019. In the second step, we use spatial models to estimate the externalities of extreme weather events. Our results reveal that natural disasters in the destination cities increase the tax revenue in the origin city. We provide evidence of the capacity of trade to mitigate the negative effects of natural disasters.

scholarly journals Mortality Due to Meteorological Disasters in Mexico during 2000-2015

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 101
Author(s):  
José Alfredo Jáuregui-Díaz ◽  
María de Jesús Ávila-Sánchez ◽  
Rodrigo Tovar-Cabañas
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Natural Disasters ◽  
Extreme Weather ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Preventive Strategies ◽  
Specific Population ◽  
Population Groups ◽  
Weather Events ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Meteorological Disasters

This document aims to examine the changes in mortality induced by several extreme weather events from 2000 to 2015 in Mexico and analyze the characteristics of the victims, as well as the demographic and geographical vulnerabilities for the development of adaptive and preventive strategies for geographies and specific population groups to minimize the effects of extreme weather. The results show that mortality from natural disasters remains unacceptably high, since most of these deaths could have been prevented. The lethality of disasters occurs not only due to exposure to a certain threat, but also due to the accumulated vulnerability of certain populations. Taking into account the results of the research, prevention programs should target men of productive ages and older adults, women in particular to girls under nine years of age and older adults, which would reduce the impact on mortality due to meteorological disasters.

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