Understanding Vulnerability to Climatic Changes and its Impact on Communities

This article explores the concept of vulnerability to climatic changes and its impact on communities. It discusses the determinants of health, health promotion interventions, and the role of community action in addressing vulnerability. The article also compares health promotion interventions to the Commission on Social Determinants and discusses the importance of creating a supporting environment. Overall, it provides insights into the challenges and strategies for addressing vulnerability to climatic changes.

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Introduction
The current climatic conditions stresses and shocks already vulnerable communities
around the world. The impact of their stresses is devastating and dangerous to the poor and
most vulnerable communities. Increase in intensity and frequency of weather related
extremes and gradual temperature will cause great impacts. This impacts has great
implications on the vulnerability of the poor to their shocks of every kind. Change in climate
adds to the urgency of understanding and addressing the vulnerable communities to the future
and current policies and reevaluating the role of programs and policies of reducing the
vulnerability. Climatic change only challenges and deepens poverty while reducing the
impact of poverty reduction strategies (Asante, and Amuakwa-Mensah, 2015). While
defining vulnerability, many researchers term it as the indication of exposure to external
risks, shocks and stresses and their ability to recover from the resulting impact. Vulnerability
also differs from different groups and across different communities. Vulnerability of the poor
mostly increases due to increased pressures and conflicts associated with globalization,
increase in diseases and other trends such as climatic changes. In times of stresses and
shocks, people draw on a range of coping strategies. The ones available to the poor are less
resilient and are likely to be more restricted.
Identification and discussion of determinants of Health
Changing vulnerabilities globally often explains how communities or people move
out or in to poverty. This maybe suddenly, gradually or seasonally over time. People may use
different strategies to move out of poverty however, without their vulnerability reduction,
they slip back into it albeit on a later date (Bindo, et al, 2018). Within the context of

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vulnerability, climatic effects describes inter-annual variability, seasonal changes and a likely
changes in weather related conditions to their extremes. The variability is an ongoing stress
on people’s lives and livelihoods. Therefore, people take the effects of climatic conditions
within the livelihoods of their activities and other risks they will face. An example is the
effect of climatic change on pastoralist’s communities within East Africa. The pastoralists
usually make decisions of movement based on a range of different risks such as climate,
livestock diseases, land access and conflicts (Brzoska, and Fröhlich, 2016). The poor
communities are the most affected by changes in climatic conditions. This is because of their
activities that secure their livelihoods or where they live. For example, the urban landless
communities are very vulnerable to extremes caused by the climate as is the case in Honduras
where people who live in hillside shanty towns were the most affected by landslides and
intense rainfall caused by Hurricane Mitch.
Pastoralists in Africa are affected by drought due to their over dependence on marginal areas.
The cyclone in Bangladesh in 1991 showed that women and children are the most vulnerable
to any risks and shocks of weather change. Up to 90% of the victims in the deadly 1991
cyclone were women and children. The rate was related to factors including capabilities to
survive such as ability to swim. Also, there were socio-cultural issues in Bangladesh that
prevented the women and children from taking cover in the cyclone shelters provided to the
public. Due to this impact, the political social restrictions may force the most vulnerable to
remain in areas exposed to these stresses and shocks. The torrential rain in Venezuela in
1999 forced the marginalized communities which were the poorest to rebuild their homes in
the same areas that were risk prone due to lack of affordable alternatives. Increase in stress
intensity on climatic changes or any unseasonal changes cause severe shocks that set back the
households (Dai, Fyfe, Xie,and Dai, 2015). Coping with increased intensity in climatic

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changes results into negative impacts on health, loss of assets and can lead to extreme costs in
relation to rebuilding. Most of the diseases are caused by floods, droughts and any other
changes in weather conditions. The rural and urban poor are the most vulnerable to increase
in diseases due to change in climatic conditions. In an assessment done to over 24 countries,
the poor identified natural hazards, changes in climatic conditions and seasonal
unpredictability as most factors contributing to their vulnerable livelihoods. The model in
intervention provides people with learning skills and educating them on the effects of
climatic changes on the society and specifically the vulnerable.
Assessing Health Promotion (HP) intervention framework
Climatic conditions have a strong effect on waterborne diseases and diseases
transmitted by insects, molluscs and other cold-blooded animals. Climate change is likely to
lengthen the seasons of the transmission of vector-borne diseases and change their
geographical zones. For example, according to forecasts, due to climate change in China, the
area where cases of schistosomiasis occur, a disease transmitted by mollusks, will
significantly expand. The climate has a strong effect on malaria. Anopheles mosquito-borne
malaria kills almost 600,000 people a year each year, mostly African children under the age
of 5 years. Aides mosquitoes, which are carriers of dengue, are also highly sensitive to
climatic conditions. Studies suggest that the risk of dengue infection will also increase due to
climate change.
Score last climate change for health can only be very approximate. Nevertheless,
according to WHO's estimate, which takes into account only a number of possible health
effects, and on the assumption of continued economic growth and progress in health. The

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WHO estimates show that estimates of possible health effects due to changes in climatic
conditions cause close to 250,000 deaths annually. From the year 20130 to the year 2050,
38000 people will die because of the effects of heat waves annually. Most of this will be the
elderly. 48,000 will die due to diarrhea due to effects of floods and lond rains causing
problems in drainage and the rest. 60,000 will die due to malaria and malnutrition will kill
about 95,000 people.
Creating a supporting environment
For a great impact on a healthy life, the society can build a way of maintaining a haealthy
society by organizing work to the public and leisure activities. There is a case made in
intervention in this area in backtrack intervention model. The model in intervention provides
people with learning skills and educating them on the effects of climatic changes on the
society and specifically the vulnerable. The model also focuses on improved social outcome
due to improvement of policies relating to reduction of effects of climates and health.
Strengthening of Community action
Climatic changes and its variability has been a major issue of concern especially when put
together with human livelihoods and economic development. Climate change may have
catastrophic effects on economic development planning processes and health of vulnerable
communities. It may disrupt the ability of a community to live normally. All attempts have
been made on understanding how communities and poor populations are affected by the
trends in projected climatic changes. Climatic variability greatly affects the process of
determining community daily life in uncertain and complex endeavour.
This an area that remains as challenging as ever to interventions. The climatic change
prevention strategy in health should consider promoting actions that do not affect the climate

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such us excessive emmisions of carbon dioxide. According to researchers, development of
this action has structural collaboration scarcity in its supportive management. The process of
determining how changes in climate affect the livelihoods of vulnerable communities is a
uncertain and complex process that is associated to variability in climate.
Comparing Health Promotion (HP) intervention to the Commission on Social
Determinants
To understand the impact of climate change to the society, several approaches are
used to get the societal impacts on climatic change. They include; participatory based
community approaches, the inductive and normative approaches, deductive approaches and
the role stakeholders approach. The component of vulnerability has been a major component
that is used in describing the climatic change. Vulnerability has been used to describe
marginality, resilience, adaptability, risk and fragility.
Most of the world poorest countries have been a hotspot of changes in climatic
conditions incidents. Since 2000, sun Saharan Africa has been affected by drought, floods,
and cyclones and causes uninterrupted cycles of damaging social economic consequences. An
example is Mozambique’s which has since 1970 been hit by more than 35 significant
cyclones resulting in devastating floods effects and deaths. An increase in intensity and
frequency of cyclones in Mozambique has shown an increase in temperatures and
intensity of rainy season. Coastal communities are increasingly vulnerable to changes in
environmental variability’s as they are greatly dependent on the natural resources such as
low yield and poor agricultural soils and reduced fisheries for survival. An increase in
degradation of the habitat due to climate change will see the livelihoods of these
communities greatly affected hence requiring some flexibility in community resource
users to act.

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The policy implementation measures are aimed at reducing the impact of climate change
on this communities. The policies adopt the community livelihoods index which is
designed as a tool for social, demographic and health factors that contribute to
vulnerability of the climate and is segregated to identify the intervention areas.
Conceptual framework applied
Principles that were derived for sustainable livelihoods approach (SLA) were adapted.
The conceptual approach analyzes the vulnerability of poor people and all these factors
will impact the livelihood choices. It recognizes that livelihoods are multi sectorial and
are embedded within institutional approaches (Kay, et al 2015.). The approach of
livelihoods seeks to improve the policy development framework and practice by
recognition of cyclical and seasonal complexity of livelihood strategies.
Considering this vulnerabilities, the concept of environmental change is an interactive
endeavor that involves both the society and nature and particularly the lack of buffering
against risks caused by the environment.
Identification and discussion of systems thinking approaches
Poor households experience a great level of interlocking stressors. There is a great need
to understand climatic projections in the context of political systems, underlying health
profiles, political systems and issues that may arise from differences in populations due
to climate changes. In many jurisdictions, the climatic condition change aspect has been
due to:
 Vulnerability of populations especially the most poor

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 Community vulnerability especially those described by intergovernmental panel
for climatic change.
Using the standard as an index, it determines three main steps which include;
1. Major components averaging
2. Components conversion into average capital index
3. Sub-components standardization into indexes.
Overall context of vulnerability of livelihoods
The study showed the context of community vulnerability due to climatic changes. The
aim was to understand vulnerability of livelihoods at a local level based on social,
financial, human, physical and natural factors to understand vulnerability context.
Considering factors such as sensitivity, exposure and adoptive capacity, the overall goal
was to provide support in policy intervention towards effective policy adaptation
(O’Gorman, 2015). The research tries to understand
 The vulnerability level caused by climatic changes based on social, natural and
physical capitals caused by frameworks of sustainable livelihoods.
 Climatic events livelihoods derived from understanding vulnerabilities and
includes exposure and adaptive capacity.
In times of stresses and shocks, people draw on a range of coping strategies. The ones
available to the poor are less resilient and are likely to be more restricted. Changing
vulnerabilities globally often explains how communities or people move out or in to poverty.
This maybe suddenly, gradually or seasonally over time. People may use different strategies

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to move out of poverty however, without their vulnerability reduction, they slip back into it
albeit on a later date.
The study shows that social and financial capital play a fundamental role in vulnerability
context of livelihoods of communities. Dependence of natural resources especially in
poor communities has greatly reduced their ability to resist the changes caused by
climatic conditions. For example, absence of more stable household members residing in
more climate stable areas and lack of financial access inhibits a community from
resilience in case of disasters. Social relations such as living in community’s limit and
individual or community members adaptation. Most communities in highly hit areas of
natural calamities are dependent on natural resources (Keenan, 2018). Fisheries,
pastrolism, farming and other activities which are directly affected by natural calamities
are greatly affected by natural calamities. This paper raises concerns on the adaptability
of poor people and the most affected.
Assessment of if and how the HP intervention promotes health equity and/or
action on environmental sustainability
The main question in community assessment vulnerability is on ways of turning
adaptive capacity into fully functional actions which are adoptive. There is a very big
role played by social capital in influencing community livelihoods due to social
cohesion. Social networking creates and effective adaptation in the case of natural
calamities. The research also focuses on the need for governments to look at food
security policies by diversifying diversification of farming due to climate change on
staple foods like maize in East Africa (Iizumi, and Ramankutty, 2016). For financial

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capital in alleviating vulnerability caused by climatic changes, skill diversification of
community members may be critical to add more resources.
The paper demonstrates that due to changes in climatic conditions, low and moderately
vulnerable communities are mostly influenced by year round food insecurity.
Communities have weak coping capacity to their overall vulnerability due to changes in
climatic condition (Roy, et al,2018).
Implementation of effective interventions
The following should be policy guidelines to enhance effective interventions. They
include;
1. Enhanced production in agriculture through transfer of knowledge and use of
extension agricultural officers
2. Social network promotions through educational awareness and community
association
3. Improvement of financial and human capital capacity to enhance productivity and
reduce overreliance on natural resources (Ojea, 2015).
4. Improvement of social ammenties such as hospitals, road access and sanitation for
quick responses in cases of emergencies such as floods.
To understand the impact of climate change to the society, several approaches are used to get
the societal impacts on climatic change. They include; participatory based community
approaches, the inductive and normative approaches, deductive approaches and the role
stakeholders approach (Ray, et al,2015). The component of vulnerability has been a major
component that is used in describing the climatic change. Up to 90% of the victims in the
deadly 1991 cyclone were women and children. The rate was related to factors including

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capabilities to survive such as ability to swim. Also, there were socio-cultural issues in
Bangladesh that prevented the women and children from taking cover in the cyclone shelters
provided to the public. Due to this impact, the political social restrictions may force the most
vulnerable to remain in areas exposed to these stresses and shocks.
Principle areas of Action
The government through its implementation structures has brought into effect the climatic
conditions alleviation strategies. The main goal of these government strategies is to improve
the the social behaviour which is influenced by political, social and economic and
environmental determinants (Roy, et al, 2018). These interventions focuses on the
behavioural determinants of effects of economic conditions. The key determinants are;
a) Behavioural – where global social campaigns strategies have a better and effective
impact on reduction of high risks caused by climatic changes
b) Social- community capacity and social capital is a great strategy for the government
to improve on how it handles the climatic change catastrophes. Researchers suggest
that work environment can create security in financial and empowerment of social and
economic stability that would be great on climatic changes.
To understand the impact of climate change to the society, several approaches are used to get
the societal impacts on climatic change. They include; participatory based community
approaches, the inductive and normative approaches, deductive approaches and the role
stakeholders approach (Seddon, et al, 2016). The component of vulnerability has been a
major component that is used in describing the climatic change.
Conclusion

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The study used a broad framework in understanding community livelihoods and
how they are affected by changes in climatic conditions and variability’s. The
communities are increasingly becoming more vulnerable due to the frequent occurrences
in this cases. The capacity of poor people to cope with challenges of this magnitude also
is discussed in this paper. The level of vulnerability ranges from low, moderate to high
and is mostly influenced by lack of financial resources and ownership of land (Wills, et
al, 2017). Considering this vulnerabilities, the concept of environmental change is an
interactive endeavor that involves both the society and nature and particularly the lack of
buffering against risks caused by the environment. Poor households experience a great
level of interlocking stressors. There is a great need to understand climatic projections in
the context of political systems, underlying health profiles, political systems and issues
that may arise from differences in populations due to climate changes. The conceptual
approach analyzes the vulnerability of poor people and all these factors will impact the
livelihood choices. It recognizes that livelihoods are multi sectorial and are embedded
within institutional approaches

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