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Can we sustain success in reducing deaths to extreme weather in a hotter world? Mehrabi, Zia; Donner, Simon D. (Simon David); Rios, Patricia; Guha-Sapir, Debarati; Rowhani, Pedram; Kandlikar, Milind; Ramankutty, Navin

Abstract

In an incredible story of human adaptation, the aggregate global risk of mortality to extreme weather declined by over two orders of magnitude over the past century. Yet the data show that large losses of lives to extreme weather disasters persist in nations typified by poor economic development, weak institutions, and political instability. And currently we are seeing spikes in mortality from extreme heat events in rich nations, including a wave of new reported deaths in Japan, Europe, and Canada during 2018. These events and future projections of increasing exposure suggest that we need to revisit adaptation strategies to deal with the adverse effects of extreme weather disasters across the world.

Item Metadata

Title
Can we sustain success in reducing deaths to extreme weather in a hotter world?
Creator
Mehrabi, Zia; Donner, Simon D. (Simon David); Rios, Patricia; Guha-Sapir, Debarati; Rowhani, Pedram; Kandlikar, Milind; Ramankutty, Navin
Contributor
University of British Columbia. School of Public Policy and Global Affairs
Date Issued
2019-04-02
Description
In an incredible story of human adaptation, the aggregate global risk of mortality to extreme weather declined by over two orders of magnitude over the past century. Yet the data show that large losses of lives to extreme weather disasters persist in nations typified by poor economic development, weak institutions, and political instability. And currently we are seeing spikes in mortality from extreme heat events in rich nations, including a wave of new reported deaths in Japan, Europe, and Canada during 2018. These events and future projections of increasing exposure suggest that we need to revisit adaptation strategies to deal with the adverse effects of extreme weather disasters across the world.
Subject
Human mortality; Institutional adaptation; Sustainable development
Genre
Article; Postprint
Type
Text
Language
eng
Date Available
2021-04-02
Provider
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
DOI
10.14288/1.0378870
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/2429/70225
Affiliation
Arts, Faculty of; Science, Faculty of; Other UBC; Non UBC; Geography, Department of; Liu Institute for Global Issues; Resources, Environment and Sustainability (IRES), Institute for
Citation
Mehrabi, Z., Donner, S., Rios, P., Guha-Sapir, D., Rowhani, P., Kandlikar, M., & Ramankutty, N. (2019). Can we sustain success in reducing deaths to extreme weather in a hotter world?. World Development Perspectives.
Publisher DOI
10.1016/j.wdp.2019.02.018
Peer Review Status
Reviewed
Scholarly Level
Faculty; Researcher
Rights URI
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Aggregated Source Repository
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Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International