In the 1st article in a 4-part series which explores the gendered impacts of climate change, Masum Momaya looks at how changes in water, soil & food and disease affect women around the world.
Water: For example, women vastly outnumbered men in tsunami deaths in 2004 and annually, women outnumber men in cyclone deaths in Bangladesh.
Soil & Food: When food is scarce and/or expensive, women and girls are more vulnerable to malnutrition and starvation. For instance, a UNDP study found that rainfall shortages in India resulted in periods of low food consumption, rising food prices and starvation-related deaths of girls. Similarly, during the bread crisis in Egypt between 2007-2008, women and girls compensated for the shortages of bread by working more for paid income outside the home, eating less and spending more time preparing less expensive food from scratch.
Disease: When faced with epidemics, women more often have less access to medical services than men and their workloads increase when they have to spend more time caring for the sick. Also, women and children form the majority (70%) of the world’s poor, and poor households affected by disease have fewer resources to adapt.
Water: For example, women vastly outnumbered men in tsunami deaths in 2004 and annually, women outnumber men in cyclone deaths in Bangladesh.
Soil & Food: When food is scarce and/or expensive, women and girls are more vulnerable to malnutrition and starvation. For instance, a UNDP study found that rainfall shortages in India resulted in periods of low food consumption, rising food prices and starvation-related deaths of girls. Similarly, during the bread crisis in Egypt between 2007-2008, women and girls compensated for the shortages of bread by working more for paid income outside the home, eating less and spending more time preparing less expensive food from scratch.
Disease: When faced with epidemics, women more often have less access to medical services than men and their workloads increase when they have to spend more time caring for the sick. Also, women and children form the majority (70%) of the world’s poor, and poor households affected by disease have fewer resources to adapt.
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