valuing climate change impacts on human health empirical evidence from the literature评估气候变化对人类健康的影响的经验证据.pdfVIP

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2009, 6, 759-786; doi:10.3390/ijerph6020759 OPEN ACCESS International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ISSN 1660-4601 /journal/ijerph Article Valuing Climate Change Impacts on Human Health: Empirical Evidence from the Literature Anil Markandya and Aline Chiabai * Basque Centre for Climate Change BC3, Gran Via, 35 – 2, 48005 Bilbao, Spain; E-Mail: anil.markandya@ * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: aline.chiabai@; Tel.: +34-944-014-690 Received: 29 December 2008 / Accepted: 17 February 2009 / Published: 23 February 2009 Abstract: There is a broad consensus that climate change will increase the costs arising from diseases such as malaria and diarrhea and, furthermore, that the largest increases will be in developing countries. One of the problems is the lack of studies measuring these costs systematically and in detail. This paper critically reviews a number of studies about the costs of planned adaptation in the health context, and compares current health expenditures with MDGs which are felt to be inadequate when considering climate change impacts. The analysis serves also as a critical investigation of the methodologies used and aims at identifying research weaknesses and gaps. Keywords: Climate