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Human Well-being and The State of the Planet Can the Earth Sciences Help Alleviate Global Poverty?. Prof. John C. Mutter Deputy Director The Earth Institute at Columbia University. Can our science help people like this ……. Three part case for the co-dependence of
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Human Well-being and The State of the Planet Can the Earth Sciences Help Alleviate Global Poverty? Prof. John C. Mutter Deputy Director The Earth Institute at Columbia University
Three part case for the co-dependence of human well-being and the state of the planet • Natural disasters preferentially imperil the poor • Small variations around the norm in poor countries can act like disasters in rich countries • There is a global ecology of human well-being
Disasters and the poorest Does this have to be?
Disaster mortality risk from combined hazards (World Bank Hot Spots: Dilley, Chen, Lerner-Lam et al)
What is the Human Development Index (HDI)? A summary composite index that measures a country's average achievements in three basic aspects of human development: LONGEVITY -- life expectancy at birth; KNOWLEDGE -- a combination of the adult literacy rate and the combined primary, secondary, and tertiary gross enrolment ratio; STANDARD of LIVING -- GDP per capita (Adjusted for Purchasing Power Parity, PPP, in US$). HDI is a more comprehensive measure of deprivation than income.
Aggregate Natural Disasters Source UNDP 2004
Three part case for the co-dependence of human well-being and the state of the planet • Natural disasters preferentially imperil the poor • Small variations around the norm in poor countries can act like disasters in rich countries • There is a global ecology of human well-being
Climate variability and Malaria risk
Three part case for the co-dependence of human well-being and the state of the planet • Natural disasters preferentially imperil the poor • Small variations around the norm in poor countries can act like disasters in rich countries • There is a global ecology of human well-being
GDP per capita as a function of latitude. Poverty has a latitudinal dependence (J. Sachs)
Flood disaster economic losses Flood disaster mortality
Can our science help people like this …… ……. I hope so.