Editing IPCC:AR6/WGII/Chapter-12 (section)

==== 12.5.6.4 Other Adaptation Actions ====

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Diverse adaptation measures are being implemented through public policies, private household responses and communal management that directly or indirectly reduce the impacts of climate change on human health ( ''high confidence'' ) (Table 12.9) ''.'' Private and communal management measures could be considered indirect measures because they might be adopted even in the absence of climate change.

'''Table 12.9 |''' Hazards from climate change that impact human health and examples of adaptation strategies proposed or implemented in CSA. Based on McMichael et al. (2006), Miller et al. (2013a, b, c, d), [[#Hardoy--2014|Hardoy et al. (2014)]] , [[#IPCC--2014|IPCC (2014)]] , Janches et al. (2014), [[#Lee--2014|Lee et al. (2014)]] , [[#Mejia--2014|Mejia (2014)]] , [[#Sosa-Rodriguez--2014|Sosa-Rodriguez (2014)]] , [[#Vergara--2014|Vergara et al. (2014)]] , [[#Lemos--2016|Lemos et al. (2016)]] , [[#Villamizar--2017|Villamizar et al. (2017)]] , [[#Magoni--2018|Magoni and Munoz (2018)]] and [[#Zhao--2019|Zhao et al. (2019)]] .

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! rowspan="2"| '''Hazard and'''

'''impacts on human health'''

! colspan="3"| '''Examples of adaptation strategies'''

|-
! '''Public'''

! '''Private'''

! '''Communal'''

|-
| Extreme heat and cold: deaths/illness by thermal stress

| * Creation of urban green spaces
* Health promotion campaigns
* Shelters during heatwaves
* Technology transfer for home heating

| * Cooling by swamp coolers, air conditioning, open windows, wet floors, shade trees
* Bioclimatic building design

| * Training of community health volunteers to recognise and treat heat strain

|-
| Extreme rainfall, wildfire, wind speed: injuries/deaths from floods, storms, cyclones, bushfires and landslides (Key risk 2, Table 12.6)

| * EWSs for extreme climate events
* Safe housing programmes and relocation
* GGI (e.g., channels, drainage systems)

| * GGI to prevent landslides
* Insurance mechanisms and financing for long-term recovery

| * Communal efforts to clear debris from canals to reduce flood risk
* Cooperative efforts to rebuild following flood events

|-
| Drought and dryness: poor nutrition due to reduced food yields and dehydration due to limited or inadequate management of freshwater (Key risk 1, Table 12.6)

| * Formalising land ownership for small farmers and Indigenous people
* Address emerging water conflicts

| * Water infrastructure and irrigation
* Soil moisture retention techniques
* Insurance mechanisms
* Selection of drought-resistant crops

| * Incorporation of local stakeholders in formulating adaptation responses
* Recognition of Indigenous and local wisdom and knowledge

|-
| Changes in climate that promote microbial proliferation: food poisoning and unsafe drinking water (Key risk 3, Table 12.6).

| * Restoration of watersheds
* Integrated health-climate surveillance
* Improve access to drinking water, drainage, sanitation and waste removal

| * Water disinfection: boiling, chlorination
* Purchasing water or water filters

| * Participatory water management strategies, including protection of drinking water sources

|-
| Changes in climate that affect vector–pathogen host relations and infectious disease geography/seasonality (Key risk 4, Table 12.6)

| * Vector control
* EWS for epidemics
* NbS (e.g., forest conservation)

| * Use of bed nets and screens
* Use of repellent and insecticides
* Elimination of standing water

| * Community volunteers to collect blood smears for malaria diagnosis
* Community-led elimination of vector habitat

|-
| SLR and storm surges: impaired crop, livestock and fisheries yields; unsafe drinking water, leading to impaired nutrition (Key risk 8, Table 12.6)

| * Improve governance of water utilities
* Address emerging water conflicts
* Protection, restoration and soil conservation to recharge aquifers

| * Improve water efficiency in agriculture

| * Incorporation of local stakeholders in formulating adaptation responses
* Recognition of Indigenous and local wisdom and knowledge

|-
| Environmental degradation: loss of livelihoods and displacement leading to poverty and adverse health outcomes (related to Key risk 6, Table 12.6)

| * Long-term risk management planning for cities
* Sustainable forestry programmes
* Protection and restoration of lacustrine areas

| * Identification of alternative livelihoods

| * Community-led efforts to reforest and restore/protect watersheds

|}

Participatory management can be relevant in the case of mosquito-borne disease prevention (e.g., dengue fever or malaria), where the reduction in mosquito habitat in one area or ‘hotspot’ can reduce the risk for all surrounding households. This approach is also relevant when considering new places where vector-borne diseases can emerge because of changes in climate ( [[#Andersson--2015|Andersson et al., 2015]] ).

Adaptation strategies implemented by the public sector include a diverse suite of strategies ranging from the creation of green spaces in urban areas, relocation of families located in disaster-prone areas, ecosystem restoration and improved access to clean water, among many others ( ''high confidence'' ) (Table 12.9). Building GGI has been a popular public adaptation measure to reduce deaths and injuries because of floods ( [[#12.5.5.3.2|Section 12.5.5.3.2]] ). Infrastructure has been improved at schools, public buildings and drainage systems in cities such as Bogota, Colombia ( [[#World%20Bank--2014|World Bank, 2014]] ) and La Paz, Bolivia ( [[#Fernández--2016|Fernández and Buss, 2016]] ). In Brazil, channel works were implemented to reduce the flooding of the Tiete River, which crosses the metropolitan area of São Paulo; these projects were designed based on simulated flood scenarios ( [[#Hori--2017|Hori et al., 2017]] ).

Another example of a public adaptation measure is the protection and restoration of natural areas, which have the potential to decrease the transmission of water- and vector-borne infectious diseases ( ''medium confidence: robust evidence, low agreement'' ). Studies have shown that these measures can diminish the cases of malaria and diarrhoea in Brazil and cases of diarrhoea in children in Colombia ( [[#Bauch--2015|Bauch et al., 2015]] ; [[#Herrera--2017|Herrera et al., 2017]] ; [[#Chaves--2018|Chaves et al., 2018]] ). However, deforestation and malaria have a complex relationship that relies on local context interactions, where land use and land cover changes play an important role due to vector ecology alterations and social conditions of human settlements ( [[#Rubio-Palis--2013|Rubio-Palis et al., 2013]] ). Forest conservation can improve hydrological cycle control and soil erosion that can help to improve water quality and reduce the burden of water-borne diseases. In addition, forest cover can help to diminish the habitat for larval mosquitoes that transmit malaria. These measures can help to design policies at sites where these problems do not currently exist but can emerge as a consequence of climate change and the increase in the frequency of weather extreme events.

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