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WORKSHOP
MITIGATION AND ADAPTATION RESEARCH IN VIRGINIA
August 11-13, 2015
Hilton Garden Inn, Suffolk, VA
ABSTRACT
Global health impacts and local consequences
Muge Akpinar-Elci, Center for Global Health, College of Health Sciences, Old Dominion University
This presentation will highlight the impacts of climate change on global health and discusses communities’ vulnerabilities. Especially developing countries have the most vulnerable populations, susceptible to the effects of climate change including increasing temperature, rising sea levels, changing rainfall patterns, and more extreme weather events, such as hurricanes and flooding. We will share four of our studies that focus on various vulnerable groups to demonstrate the real impact of climate change in the Caribbean:
- Sick or chronic diseases patients: We evaluated the relationship between asthma visits to the emergency room and seasonal changes in Sahara dust exposure in Grenada.
- Young population: We investigated the relationship between flooding and health problems among the youth of Guyana, where children below the age of 14 are 32.4% of the population.
- Women and single mother households and workers: The nutmeg industry is one of the most significant contributors to the local economy in Grenada, serving as a source of employment. In 2004, Grenada was hit by Hurricane Ivan and lost 90% of the nutmeg trees. After Ivan, the only remaining nutmeg processing plant was in Gouyave, a small, impoverished town. The processing plant employs mostly single mothers. We evaluated working conditions of these single mothers and other nutmeg workers.
- Health care workers and their perspective: We investigated the perceived impacts of climate change among Caribbean health-care workers within their respective nations. These discussions were evaluated via bioethics and public health perspective.