Prof. John C. Mutter Deputy Director The Earth Institute at Columbia University Human Well-being and The State of the Planet Can the Earth Sciences Help Alleviate Global Poverty?

Can our science help people like this …… Can our science help people like this ……

 Natural disasters preferentially imperil the poor  Small variations around the norm in poor countries can act like disasters in rich countries  There is a global ecology of human well-being Three part case for the co-dependence of human well-being and the state of the planet

Disasters and the poorest Does this have to be?

Disaster mortality risk from combined hazards (World Bank Hot Spots: Dilley, Chen, Lerner-Lam et al)

Income per person, PPP (1998)

Infant Mortality

A summary composite index that measures a country's average achievements in three basic aspects of human development: LONGEVITY -- life expectancy at birth; KNOWLEDGE -- a combination of the adult literacy rate and the combined primary, secondary, and tertiary gross enrolment ratio; STANDARD of LIVING -- GDP per capita (Adjusted for Purchasing Power Parity, PPP, in US$). HDI is a more comprehensive measure of deprivation than income. What is the Human Development Index (HDI)?

Aggregate Natural Disasters Source UNDP 2004

 Natural disasters preferentially imperil the poor  Small variations around the norm in poor countries can act like disasters in rich countries  There is a global ecology of human well-being Three part case for the co-dependence of human well-being and the state of the planet

Climate variability and Malaria risk

 Natural disasters preferentially imperil the poor  Small variations around the norm in poor countries can act like disasters in rich countries  There is a global ecology of human well-being Three part case for the co-dependence of human well-being and the state of the planet

Income per person, PPP (1998)

GDP per capita as a function of latitude. Poverty has a latitudinal dependence (J. Sachs)

Flood vulnerability

Flood disaster economic losses Flood disaster economic losses Flood disaster mortality

Cyclone vulnerability

Earthquake vulnerability

Drought vulnerability

Conflict and Drought

Disaster Mortality risk is a proxy for poverty

Can our science help people like this …… Can our science help people like this …… ……. I hope so.