The map of the countries most at risk of climate change and pollution

Africa and Southeast Asia are the areas most at risk. While China and India are the countries that could benefit most from a change of course

The global distribution of toxic pollution risk (photo: Marcantonio et al, 2021, PLOS ONE (CC-BY 4.0, creativecommons.org /licenses/by/4.0/) Poor countries as always are the most subject to global threats, to health and the environment. A new study by the University of Notre Dame, in the United States, photographs the overall and local situation of climate change and toxic pollution, providing various detailed maps of the nations most affected by these threats. The research, published in Plos One, presents a world map divided by colors based on the intensity of each problem. As can be seen from the images, the most affected areas are found in Africa and Southeast Asia and are also those that in the future will have an increasingly central role in determining the human impact on climate and water. uination.

A map for toxic pollution

To obtain this and the other maps, the researchers collected and reworked the information from 3 vast databases, known and often used, containing the data of 176 countries as of 2018. The research investigated the presence and spread of pollution harmful to health, ie sources of contaminated water, air and land. Greenhouse gases, such as CO 2, which are part of non-toxic pollution, are excluded from this parameter. The data comes from the Notre Dame Global Adaptation Index, the Yale Environmental Performance Index and the Global Alliance on Health and Pollution. Above we have shown the map of the countries most affected by toxic pollutants, while below that of the countries where the risk of climate change is greater.

The map of the countries most at risk of climate change (photo: Marcantonio et al, 2021, PLOS ONE (CC-BY 4.0, creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) As can be seen, changes Climate and pollution go hand in hand: Countries where the effects on the climate are greatest are also more at risk of contamination harmful to health. These include industrial waste, such as toxic heavy metals from mines, chemicals, sewage and particulates produced by power plants Electricity.

The countries that can benefit most

There is also another equally important map, which combines the previous data with another measure. on the basis of the information available, the ability of the most attacked countries to change things and in particular to obtain benefits, taking actions to combat and reduce climate change. The new map, therefore, represents this cap with images and colors. acity. Europe and Italy, in general not among the most affected regions (but still affected by these problems), are not decisive.



The global distribution of "Target", a measure of each country's risk of climate impact, toxic pollution together with the potential preparedness to mitigate these risks (photo: Marcantonio et al, 2021, PLOS ONE (CC-BY 4.0, creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

China and India: two powers that can do a lot

The 10 countries that can do more and benefit most from climate change mitigation and pollution reduction are, in order: Singapore, Rwanda , China, India, the Solomon Islands, Bhutan, Botswana, Georgia, South Korea and Thailand, while at the end of the ranking there are: Equatorial Guinea, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Central African Republic, Turkmenistan, Algeria, Eritrea, Venezuela and Libya. “Two of the countries in the top five of the ranking and of the measure called Targe t - the authors write in the study -, that is, China and India, are substantially developed economically and hold a leading geopolitical power. They are the largest countries in the world, representing together more than 2.5 billion people ”.

In these countries, deaths from pollution are high: in China they represent the 13th cause of death and in India the fifth. Despite the unfavorable data, these states are also the ones that could have the most benefits in changing course. In recent years, for example, there has been a sharp reduction in PM 2.5 fine particles in China, equal to 40% from 2013 to 2017, associated with a decline in respiratory diseases and deaths from cardiovascular diseases, both strongly associated with pollution. toxic.


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Topics

Africa China Climate India pollution globalData.fldTopic = "Africa, China , Climate, India, pollution "

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