Oxfam Americaは、昨年の10月に「Exposed - Social vulnerability and climate change in the US Southeast」と題した、アメリカの気候変動による影響とその適応策のための提言をまとめたリポートを発表し、同時にわかりやすいインタラクティブマップなどを公開しました。
同リポートは、気候変動によりアメリカ人が安住の地を追われかねない可能性を指摘しました。アメリカが抱える貧困という問題がさらに被害を深刻化させ、2050年に先進国アメリカで気候難民化する可能性のある人口は約1億5000万人に及ぶというのですから、深刻な内容です。
タイトルの”Exposed”は無防備な人々とアメリカの現状を一言で表現して、それだけでショッキングです。特に被害が大きい地域は、アーカンサスからバージニア州にいたる13州が属するサウスウェストと呼ばれる地域です。
このリポートが詳細にマッピングし描きだした懸念される気候変動の影響は、洪水 flooding、乾燥(干ばつ) drought、ハリケーンによる風 hurricane force winds、海面上昇 sea-level rise などです。それぞれの脅威を個別に地図で表示し、さらに総合的な評価を「Regional patterns」としてまとめています。
・Exposed: Groundbreaking report details climate change hotspots in US Southeast-----Oxfam America,Oct 21, 2009
-----image : リポート「Exposed - Social vulnerability and climate change in the US Southeast」カバー
" Publication Summary
The effects of natural disasters and climate change vary widely by state, county, and community. Although social variables such as income and age do not determine who will be hit by a natural disaster, they do determine a population's ability to prepare, respond, and recover when disaster does strike.
Historically, studies about climate hazards and social vulnerability have been conducted in separate silos. The Social Vulnerability Index (SoVI) is the first study of its kind to examine both the potential impact of natural hazards and which populations are most likely to be negatively affected. The SoVI statistically examines the underlying social and demographic characteristics of the population and how they impact certain segments of the population in disabling ways when it comes to climate change-related hazards.
This research, commissioned by Oxfam America, includes a series of layered maps that depict social and climate change-related hazard vulnerability. The maps assist in identifying hotspots in the US Southeast, which are at significant risk in the face of four particular climate change-related hazards: drought, flooding, hurricane force winds, and sea-level rise.
The specific region of focus is the 13-state region of the US Southeast: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. Roughly 80 percent of all US counties that experience persistent poverty (defined as a county in which at least 20 percent of the population experiences poverty for three decades or more) lie in this region.
For more details and to view interactive maps, visit oxfamamerica.org/adapt. "

-----image : 「Exposed - Social vulnerability and climate change in the US Southeast」P.16-17より
関連
・Oxfam America : Vulnerability and Climate Change in the US Southeast(interactive maps)
・Study Says Climate Change Could Displace 150 Million People by 2050-----U.S. DOE EERE News,November 18, 2009
・Environmental Justice Foundation EJF: Climate Refugees Report
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