AN ASSESSMENT OF THE CAUSES AND HEALTH IMPLICATIONS OF FLOOD DISASTER ON HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT.
in SCIENCE LAB TECHNOLOGY PROJECT TOPICS AND MATERIALS on September 18, 2020CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
African countries have been identified as amongst the most vulnerable places in the world due to climate change and climate variability, anthropogenic activities are a contributory cause to the extreme rise in global atmospheric temperature and the resulting climate change phenomena (IPCC{intergovernmental panel on climate change}, 2007). Flooding disaster is when a place that is normally dry becomes filled or covered with water (Oxford advanced learner dictionary). The main characteristics of these changes in climate are the increases in the average global temperature (global warming), changes in cloud cover and precipitation particularly over land; melting of ice caps and glaciers and reduced snow cover (UNFCC{united nation framework convention on climate change}, 2007).
In cities, these effects make communities vulnerable to climate change. In other words, climate change becomes a global threat to human survival. It is therefore imperative that, national and local governments take the necessary steps to ensure that the degree of vulnerability emanating from climate change and its associated risks are significantly reduced. Flooding has serious effects on the social, economic, environmental, physical and psychological wellbeing of people and even on the political and institutional levels of a country.
It is therefore, urgent that the vulnerability of developing countries to climate change is reduced and their capacity to adapt is increased at national, regional and community levels (UNFCCC, 2007). General climate changes (measured by temperature, precipitation, and number of rain days per year) show a positive and significant relationship with flooding and related extreme events.
Flooding is considered as a primary example of climate change related events in all parts of the world (IPCC, 2007). It is often argued that the more severe temperature levels vary, the higher the level of precipitation, and the more rain days per year the higher the risk of flooding.
