Climate-induced Natural Disasters Research Articles

Climate Change Intersecting Socio-economic Vulnerabilities of Kalash Indigenous Community in Nothern Pakistan

Climate Change has a significant effect on all walks of life or human activities across the world. However, indigenous communities in different parts of the world are more susceptible to the worst effects of climate change due to their dependency on natural resources. Climate change directly affects natural resources such as forests, water, grazing land, bio-diversity and traditional foods of indigenous communities. This study explores how climate change overlaps or intersects the socio-economic, and bio-cultural marginality of the Kalash indigenous community, living in northern Pakistan. The qualitative research paradigm was used to explore how climate change overlaps or intersects the socio-economic marginality of the Kalash Indigenous community. It reveals that climate change has significantly affected natural resources such as water, biodiversity, forests and crops of Kalash's indigenous community. Climate-induced natural disasters affected their livelihood resources and compelled them to migrate or be displaced from their native town. It reveals that climate change also affects women's marginality in Kalash's indigenous community. It also reveals that climate change overlaps and intersects with the socio-economic marginality of Indigenous communities and policymakers should give priority to indigenous communities who have a dependency on natural resources to protect them from the worst effect of climate change across the world.

Strategic Models for Enhancing Insurance Resilience in the Face of Climate-Induced Natural Disasters

Strategic Models for Enhancing Insurance Resilience in the Face of Climate-Induced Natural Disasters

Unveiling the Nexus: Climate change, green innovation, and the pendulum of energy consumption and carbon emissions

This study delves into the complex interplay of climate change, natural disasters, energy consumption, and carbon emissions across 111 countries from 1990 to 2019. A structural shift in 2004 signifies altered global dynamics in CO2 emissions, closely linked to the escalation of meteorological and hydrological disasters driven by climate change. Globally, we illuminate the significant impact of climate-induced natural disasters, especially storms and extreme temperatures, on energy consumption and carbon emissions, albeit with variations. Regionally, we establish a notable positive association between extreme temperature-related disasters and both energy consumption and carbon emissions in Europe. Examining the aftermath of catastrophic events reveals an intensified influence of these disasters on carbon emissions and energy consumption in Africa, Latin America, and Europe. Developed economies experience significant impacts on carbon emissions and energy consumption from storms and extreme temperatures, while flood severity predominantly affects carbon emissions in developing countries. Additionally, we explore the potential of green patents in mitigating energy consumption and emissions triggered by disasters. While not conclusively proven, the statistically significant impact of green patents on energy conservation holds profound policy implications for advancing climate understanding, transforming energy landscapes, and addressing future sustainability concerns.

Enhancing emergency response planning for natech accidents in process operations using functional resonance analysis method (FRAM): A case of fuel storage tank farm

Recent increases in climate-induced natural disasters have amplified the risk of Natech (natural hazard-triggered technological) accidents, particularly in the chemical industry. These emergencies, characterized by their urgency and resource constraints, pose significant challenges for emergency planning. The Functional Resonance Analysis Method (FRAM) offers a systematic approach to enhance emergency response strategies. This study introduces a FRAM-based methodology specifically designed for fuel storage tank farms, structured into four critical stages: understanding, designing, analyzing, and enhancing the response process. It promotes a cycle of continuous improvement. A case study on a seismic Natech incident at a fuel storage facility demonstrates the methodology's effectiveness and its potential to boost the resilience of emergency response systems against Natech challenges.

Monitoring and Mitigating Climate-Induced Natural Disasters with Cloud IoT

Innovative solutions are necessary for efficient monitoring and mitigation techniques as climate change increases the frequency and severity of natural catastrophes. In this study, we investigate how Cloud Internet of Things (IoT) might help mitigate climate-related calamities. Through the use of cloud computing and sensor networks, Cloud IoT facilitates the capture, processing, and distribution of data in near-real time. This strategy promotes catastrophe planning, response, and recovery by offering early warnings, predictive insights, and simplified communication. The article emphasises the cumulative influence of Cloud IoT components such as sensor networks, data analytics, decision support systems, and remote control in the context of disaster management. Cloud IoT is useful in real-world scenarios, such as the tracking of floods in Bangladesh and the identification of wildfires in California. These cases show how the technology may prevent injuries and preserve property through early warnings and well-coordinated responses. Despite its potential, it faces obstacles including ensuring the safety of data and dealing with issues related to the necessary infrastructure. In conclusion, including Cloud IoT in disaster management provides a cost-effective, scalable, and efficient solution, greatly contributing to constructing resilient communities and creating a sustainable future in the face of climate-induced natural catastrophes.

Climate Change Impacts on the Tourism Industry in Georgia

This study delves into how climate change affects nature-based tourism in Georgia, focusing on its impact on winter and Seaside tourism. Concerns arise from observed snow cover trends at pivotal ski resorts such as Bakuriani and Gudauri, indicating potential threats to the winter tourism calendar. The escalation of climate-induced natural disasters and coastal erosion poses immediate economic risks, necessitating prompt adaptation strategies. Economic models project adverse impacts on tourism and GDP, emphasizing the need for tailored mitigation measures. Variances in climate impacts across diverse tourist zones underscore the vital requirement for unified and comprehensive adaptation approaches. The article advocates for multifaceted strategies encompassing business, consumer behavior, and destination dynamics, stressing the integration of climate research into policy frameworks and awareness initiatives. This integration is vital to foster resilient and sustainable tourism development in Georgia amid the exigencies posed by climate change, ensuring the safeguarding of the state's tourism future.

Responding to Humanitarian Crises: Midwifery Care in Bangladesh.

Sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) is often a neglected topic of intervention in humanitarian crises despite its wide-ranging impact on women and girls' well-being. Increasing frequency of climate-induced natural disasters calls for an urgent need to identify innovative practices for sustainable and effective humanitarian preparedness and response to ensure SRHR of affected populations. One such innovation is the empowerment of midwives in disaster response program planning and implementation. This article describes how midwives deployed to rural primary health centers provided quality SRHR services, particularly for labor and birth assistance and initial management of perinatal emergencies and referral in the aftermath of the 2022 flooding in northern and northeastern Bangladesh. Supportive supervision from physicians, adequate health care logistics and supplies, and administrative support from local health authorities created an enabling environment for the midwives. Community engagement through volunteers helped build rapport with residents and allowed patients to navigate health services. Deploying midwives as a response to climate-induced natural disaster was successful in establishing quality SRHR services. Future recommendations include systematically deploying midwives in health centers closest to the communities in locations vulnerable to climate change as part of routine health service delivery. This innovative approach clearly demonstrated that utilization of midwives during and after natural disasters could build community and health system resilience to climate change.

Nature-based solutions in a sandy foreshore: A biological assessment of a longline mussel aquaculture technique to establish subtidal reefs

Climate-induced natural disasters such as floods and storms are expected to become more frequent and intense in the coming years. From 2017 till 2020, a pilot project was set up where mussel reefs were established as a nature-based solution to mitigate coastal erosion off the Belgian Coast. These subtidal mussel reefs were created by applying a longline mussel aquaculture technique consisting of filamentous and non-filamentous dropper lines of different materials. In this study, several biological aspects of the Nature-based Solution (NbS) set-up were examined: the suitability of the set-up as a whole, the suitability of the seven dropper line types, distribution of biofouling organism on the dropper lines and the spatio-temporal evolution of the mussel reef and its impact on the underlying benthic communities. Only during the summer months, a mussel reef could be established under the dropper line structure. Filamentous and non-filamentous dropper lines harbored different mussel densities and sizes, leading to a possible different effect on the underlying mussel reef. The biofouling community on the dropper lines was also defined in this study with amphipod species such as Jassa sp. and Monocorophium sp. as the dominant species. The impact of the NbS set-up on the macrofaunal communities remained low for the study period. First indications of a shift towards a less diverse and oligochaete dominated community was observed, although longer time series and an optimized sampling protocol will be needed. This pilot study showed the application of using a mussel longline technique in order to establish a subtidal mussel reef in a soft-sediment environment.

Promoting sustainable development goals: Role of higher education institutions in climate and disaster management in Zimbabwe.

This article seeks to explore the role of higher education institutions (HEIs) in climate change adaptation and disaster risk management (DRM). The study is based on the qualitative desk review, thematic and document analysis and uses the theory of change to facilitate a road map for HEIs in strengthening professional human development, policy consistency in dealing with climate-induced natural disasters (CINDs) research and policies. Academic journals covering the role of HEIs in climate and disaster management in Zimbabwe were selected on google scholar. Reviewed documents include universities’ curriculum documents, government disaster policy documents and other related disaster management policy protocols. The article’s findings reflect that HEIs in Zimbabwe have been engaged in climate change education and DRM as the country and the region are prone to threats posed by extreme weather events in the form of tropical cyclones and extreme droughts. The article concludes that HEIs core mission that includes public engagement to advance achieving sustainable development goals in Zimbabwe is growing at a steady pace to find ways to avert the impact of climate change and put strategies in place to respond to disaster to minimise social, environmental and economic losses posed by disasters. Bindura University of Science Education (BUSE) is enhancing people’s resilience in Chadereka village in Muzarabani through disaster preparedness training. National University of Science Technology (NUST) is also training communities on disaster concepts, disaster prevention, mitigation, preparedness and response.

Climate change, natural disasters, and institutional integrity

We empirically investigate the effect of climate-induced natural disasters on the quality of institutions in 92 countries using data from 1984 to 2016. An instrumental variable approach is used to account for the reverse causality from the number of people affected by natural disasters to the quality of institutions. We then employ the Hausman Taylor approach to account for the bias in estimating panels with endogenous variables. Estimation results reveal a negative impact of natural disasters on the quality of national institutions. Furthermore, disasters negatively affect the quality of institutions in low-income, non-developed countries, whereas the effect is non-significant for high-income and developed nations. At the regional level, institutions in East Asia, Pacific, and South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean tend to deteriorate after natural disasters. In contrast, natural disasters in the Middle East and North Africa are often followed by improved institutions. Of the 12 components of the institutional integrity index, metrics mostly affected by disasters include government stability, internal conflicts, law and order, ethnic fragmentation, and democratic accountability. Our results suggest that disaster risk reduction policies and international assistance programs to help climate change adaptation in various economies need a combined “top-down” and “bottom-up” approach. Additionally, institutional strengthening should be an integral component of disaster preparedness and adaptation efforts.

Appraisal of climate change and cyclone trends in Indian coastal states: a systematic approach towards climate action

Indian coastal regions have often been affected by frequent climate-induced natural disasters such as cyclones, floods, droughts and other related hazards in recent decades. Existing literature was not sufficient to fully understand these event trends from diverse perspectives in a systematised manner at current scenarios. Therefore, a systematic approach has been employed to assess the climate change and cyclone trends of nine Indian coastal states by using various geographical information system (GIS) tools for 2006–2020. The results showed that 61 cyclones occurred in nine coastal states from 2006 to 2020; the highest numbers were recorded in Odisha (20), West Bengal (14) and Andhra Pradesh (11). Accordingly, these three coastal states emerged as the most vulnerable for high-intensity cyclones. The results also identified that the highest average temperature (29.3 °C) was recorded at Tamil Nadu and Gujarat, and the lowest temperature (26.7 °C) was recorded in West Bengal and Odisha. Most of the coastal states showed fluctuations in temperatures during the study period. At the same time, Kerala and Karnataka states recorded the highest average rainfall (2341 mm and 2261 mm) and highest relative humidity (78.11% and 76.57%). Conversely, the Gujarat and West Bengal states recorded the lowest relative humidity at 59.65% and 70.78%. Based on these results, the current study generated GIS vulnerability maps for climate change and cyclone activity, allowing one to rank each state’s vulnerability. Cumulatively, these results and maps assist in understanding the driving mechanisms of climate change, cyclones and will contribute towards more effective and efficient sustainable disaster management in the future.

Recent trends and impacts of climate change in North-Eastern region of India-A review

The economy of North-Eastern (NE) region of India predominantly depends on farming, where only 12% of geographical area is available for cultivation out of which more than 85% is rain fed. Climate change has become a major concern in agriculture today, as farmers in many regions are struggling to cope with changing temperatures and rainfall pattern. Moreover, extreme weather situations like droughts, floods, heat and cold waves pose serious threat to food security, especially for small and marginal farmers. This review paper discusses the climate change in North-Eastern India based on the available climatic data from various published sources. Most of the analysis was performed on time series meteorological data recorded at different locations across the states of North-Eastern India namely, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura. The increase in mean annual maximum temperature varied from 0.1°C per decade in Imphal (Manipur) to about 1.4°C per decade in Jharnapani (Nagaland). The changes were significant for all the states, except Sikkim. This region is one of the highest rainfall receiving regions of the world, but during February-March it faces water scarcity. The rainfall is projected to increase in 57 districts out of 78 districts, with some districts expected to experience almost 25% more rainfall than usual. The North-Eastern region of India has experienced notable changes in the pattern of major climatic variables such as rainfall and temperature. Average temperatures are projected to increase in almost all the districts of the region while annual rainfall is also reported to increase in almost 3/4th of the districts. The climate-induced natural disasters like drought, flood and hailstorms are the major threats of climate change and the incidence of these natural disasters are increasing in the recent years over the region.

Factors driving farmers’ knowledge on climate change in a climatically vulnerable state of India

Climate and its inevitable symptoms of change are now becoming a part of people’s life. They have realised the related potential threats and magnitude of skewed pace of development for generations to come as an outcome of climate-induced natural disasters. The prior knowledge and conditioning about the climate change is much pressing need in the third world nations (like India) where it is circumscribed only to the elite-urban mass. The present study has assessed the awareness and knowledge level of farmers on climate change and delineated the factors driving their knowledge in a coastal (Balasore) and non-coastal (Khurda) districts of Odisha, a climatically vulnerable state in India. Most of the farmers were aware about issues of climate change; however, their knowledge level on various phenomena was found less than average with overall climate knowledge index of 46.60 and 45.33 per cent in Balasore and Khurda districts, respectively. Attributes like education, number of earning family members, income from farm activity, wealth ranking, assets holding, mass media exposure and use of personal localite sources of information together explained 66.60 per cent variations in knowledge level of farmers on climate change in Balasore district. Similarly, in Khurda district, multiple regression analyses (backward method) revealed that age, education and income from non-farm activity determined 69.90 per cent variations in knowledge level of farmers on climate change phenomena.

Climate Change and Drought: Impact of Food Insecurity on Gender Based Vulnerability in District Tharparkar

Climate change has now become a reality that has intensified the sufferings of people living in arid ecosystems. Decrease in rainfall, rise in temperature and increase in the frequency of extreme events are some of the changes observed in the semi-arid desert of district Tharparkar. For thousands of years, people of Tharparkar are coping with drought and aridity of the land by using indigenous knowledge. However, global changes in the climatic pattern and deterioration of social and economic conditions have pushed the inhabitants of this arid region into extreme vulnerable situation. This paper investigates the link between climate-induced natural disasters, particularly drought, from the perspective of changing climate patterns which have resulted in food insecurity and water scarcity. The paper analyses the rainfall pattern in the last 38 years—dividing it into two periods i.e. from 1975-1994 and 1995-2014. The findings of the paper have challenged the prevailing notions about aridity and rainfall patterns in Tharparkar district. The research found that there is an increase in average annual precipitation in the district with erratic patterns. Thus, the nature of drought in the district has changed from its historic pattern of less or no rainfall to more but erratic rainfall that is more threatening to livelihoods of the people that in turn have multiplier effect on water and food insecurity. In particularly, women are more vulnerable in the absence of social security and lack of basic necessities for their survival amidst drought. For instance, traditionally the burden of managing water resources falls on women, which leads to an increased work load during the time of drought and also water scarcity. JEL Classification: Q54, Q56, Q25, I30 Keywords: Climate, Environment and Development, Drought, Water, Poverty

Effects of Environmental Change on Human Health: A Descriptive Economic Analysis

Environmental dilapidation in developing countries upsurges the incidence of human diseases leading to societal impoverishment in the disease rampant areas. Literatures on economic evaluation of effects of environmental changes on human health are scanty. This paper descriptively reconnoiters major environmental changes, spread of diseases, associated household cost including health costs and finally benefits from the improvement of environment through household survey in western Nepal. The results ratify that draught, thunderstorm, lightning, flood and heat waves stand as the major climate-induced natural disasters affecting human health where people directly rely on agriculture for livelihood and firewood for cooking in western Nepal. Increasing temperature and decreasing rainfall in all seasons are found parallel with the increasing incidence mostly of waterborne and foodborne diseases in the hilly region and vector-borne diseases in Terai region. Increasing disease incidences with new diseases under the changing environment have aggravated an average of NPR 61,539 (NPR 104 = US$ 1) as direct household curative cost and reduced working efficiency of the patients by 47% at least for a year. Direct adaptation cost in household level is estimated as almost NPR 81,500 which is catastrophic among the remittance-dependent poor community. With poor coverage of life insurance but highly excited towards health insurance in the community, people seem willing to pay more than the government existing rate (NPR 2,500) for ensuring sustainable health security. Finally, the household’s benefit from the improvement of environmental quality partially causing the diseases incidence elicited by the willingness to pay method is obtained as NPR 1,909 per year on an average. From the policy perspective, the results can be destiny in the formulation of environmental conservation plan and generation of self-motivation to the people around disease prone areas in western Nepal.

Impact of Climate Induced Natural Disasters in Costal Odisha Focused On Socio-Economic Vulnerability

calamities since long . Between the period 1965 to 2004, floods have occurred 17 times, droughts 19 times, and cyclones have hit the state 7 times (OSDMA, 2011). These natural disasters have not only led to loss of human lives but also resulted in extensive damages Climate induced natural disasters (CINDs) like droughts, floods, cyclones and heat waves have become serious problem to Orissa. Fluctuating weather conditions in the state suggest that it is reeling under a climatic chaos. It has been experiencing contrasting weather like heat waves to cyclone and from drought to flood for more than decade. The dramatic change in state’s ecology and weather conditions may be due to induction by climate change. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) links vulnerability with climatic change and point out that the vulnerability of a region depends largely on its wealth, and poverty, which limits adaptive capabilities (IPCC, 2000). The socio-economic systems for state like Orissa are more vulnerable to CIND because of high reliance on natural resource, limited ability to adapt financially and intuitionally, low per capita GDP, high poverty and lack of safety nets. Vulnerability is social condition of measuring coping ability and differs in degree for regions, economic sectors and social groups. The paper tries is to work out strategies to improve the ability of the poor people to be more resilient to current natural hazards as well as to the risks associated with long-term climate induced natural disasters by developing composite index of social vulnerability (CISV) for the districts of Orissa. Working out a social vulnerability index for a complex state like Orissa raises several problems in selecting suitable indicators, aggregation of these indicators and also decision in assigning weights. The purpose of the paper to select suitable indicators as criterion data, criterion standardization derived by dividing by mean, weightage by multivariate (PCA) analysis and combining by means of simple aggregation. This piece of work will raise a debate in academic world by proposing a methodology to overcome the persistent dichotomy in different school of vulnerability res

Measuring Progress on Climate Change Adaptation: Lessons from the Community Well-Being Analogue

While research on assessing climate change adaptation (CCA) activities is in the nascent stage of development, measuring similar endeavors within the community well-being (CWB) field is well established across Canada and internationally through the use of indicators and associated measures. CCA activities are an important part of building resilience to climate-induced natural disasters, and reducing secondary hazards arising from damage to critical infrastructure and other essential facilities. This study evaluated the CWB analogue to provide lessons for the measurement of progress and adaptation to climate change at the municipal level. Since the impacts of climate change are experienced at the local scale and effective CCA is thought to require local scale engagement and targeted action, municipal scale measurement is key to understanding CCA progress. Research involved an extensive review of CWB models and key informant interviews conducted with key Canadian municipal and international authorities who are leaders in spearheading CWB initiatives. In the paper we outline the major CWB models, our findings from the CWB analogue and the lessons learned for CCA measurement. In particular, we suggest that early engagement and participative processes, flexible and adaptable measurement tools, careful consideration of data requirements, ‘mainstreaming’ CCA measurement into ongoing activities and the “de-siloing” of expertise will be important for the success of CCA measurement activities at the municipal scale.

Analyzing the Dynamics of Social Vulnerability to Climate Induced Natural Disasters in Orissa, India

Climate induced natural disasters (CINDs) including droughts, floods, cyclones and heat waves have become serious problems to Orissa, a coastal state of India. Fluctuating weather conditions in the state suggest that it is reeling under a climatic chaos. It has been experiencing contrasting weather like heat waves to cyclone and from drought to flood for more than a decade. The dramatic change in state's ecology and weather conditions are perhaps consequences of climate change. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) links vulnerability with climatic change and point out that the vulnerability of a region depends largely on its wealth and poverty, which limits the adaptive capabilities The socio-economic systems of the state like Orissa remains more vulnerable to CIND because of high reliance on natural resources, limited ability to adapt financially and intuitionally, low per capita GDP, acute poverty and lack of safety nets. Vulnerability is social condition of measuring coping ability that differs across the regions, economic sectors and social groups. The historical disparities in the socio-economic structure of the state shaped the social vulnerability of the population and their responses to cope with looming crisis. These disparities are derived from caste, class, occupation, age difference and socially marginalized population which will result into uneven impact of hazards on the various communities in different districts of Orissa. This article examines how the pre-existing social vulnerability within different districts of Orissa interacted with catastrophe to produce socio-spatial pattern recovery. The study aims to develop composite index of social vulnerability (CISV) for the districts of Orissa by using a combination of statistical and spatial approach to improve the ability of poor people to be more resilient to current natural hazards as well as to the risks associated with long-term climate induced natural disasters. The methodology proposed in developing CISV is to overcome the persistent dichotomy in different vulnerability research and also to highlight the priority areas of policy implications in building adaptive capacity of the most vulnerable districts.

Climate-related natural disasters, economic growth, and armed civil conflict

Global warming is expected to make the climate warmer, wetter, and wilder. It is predicted that such climate change will increase the severity and frequency of climate-related disasters like flash floods, surges, cyclones, and severe storms. This article uses econometric methods to study the consequences of climate-induced natural disasters on economic growth, and how these disasters are linked to the onset of armed civil conflict either directly or via their impact on economic growth. The results show that climate-related natural disasters have a negative effect on growth and that the impact is considerable. The analysis of conflict onset shows that climate-related natural disasters do not increase the risk of armed conflict. This is also true when we instrument the change in GDP growth by climatic disasters. The result is robust to inclusion of country and time fixed effects, different estimation techniques, and various operationalization of the disasters measure, as well as for conflict incidence and war onset. These findings have two major implications: if climate change increases the frequency or makes weather-related natural disasters more severe, it is an economic concern for countries susceptible to these types of hazards. However, our results suggest – based on historical data – that more frequent and severe climate-related disasters will not lead to more armed conflicts through their effects on GDP growth.

Climate change and the diversity of its health effects

As several contributions in this issue of International Journal of Public Health suggest (in particular that from Kjellstrom 2009), there is a wide range of potential—direct and indirect—health consequences of climate change. However, the science of such effects is still in its infancy and faces considerable challenges, as we try to suggest in our contribution (Xun et al. 2009). Possible events attributable to climate change range from rapid and catastrophic to slow and mild. For example, IPCC does not rule out (though it is very unlikely) a cascade of events leading to Bangladesh being swept away because of rapid Himalayan glacier melting. Apart from extreme and unlikely effects, some of the direct consequences of climate change are rather obvious and can be easily perceived, such as the deaths related to heat waves in Europe in 2003. The causal pathway in these cases is clear, and does not require any particularly sophisticated epidemiological technique. Confounding is irrelevant as far as we consider the causal association between the climate event (heat wave) and its direct health consequences. But still: were all heat waves in the recent past due to what we call climate change, i.e. a man-made trend in temperature and its related epiphenomena? Was the flood in Bangladesh in 1974 the first attributable to climate change, or the last not due to it? And what about the one in 1998? Clearly borders are fuzzy, and causal chains intricate. Uncertain inferences on the causal nature of events also concern the attribution to climate change of indirect health effects, such as infectious disease outbreaks, changes in food quality and availability, water salinization and the ensuing epidemic of hypertension (Xun et al. 2009). Even wars and conflicts (like in Darfur), mass migrations and effects on mental health have been attributed to climate change. In a survey conducted among children aged between 2 and 9 in Bangladesh, Durkin et al. (1993) found post-flood changes in behaviour and bedwetting. Children were reported to have ‘‘very aggressive behaviour’’ after floods, with a significant increase compared to the preflood situation. A qualitative study explored the experiences of female adolescents during the 1998 floods in Bangladesh, focusing on the implications of sociocultural norms related to notions of honour, shame, purity and pollution. A number of the girls were vulnerable to sexual and mental harassment through exposure to unfamiliar environment of flood shelters and relief camps. Common mental health disorders following climate-induced displacement include anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, irritability, sleeplessness and suicide. Moreover, conflict situations that may arise among farmers in times of climate-induced natural disasters like droughts and floods need to be addressed. Is all of this attributable to what we call climate change? Where are the borders between the burden of events that would occur anyhow, particularly in low-income countries, even in the absence of climate change, and those attributable to the latter? How can we identify the chain of events that eventually explains the local outbreak? Again, fuzzy borders have to be acknowledged. It should be noted that the effects we have described are mainly occurring or Paolo Vineis is Chair of Environmental Epidemiology at Imperial College, London. His main interests are in the field of molecular epidemiology and gene–environment interactions. He also works on climate change with the Grantham Institute for Climate Change in London.