Before the next disaster strikes: the humanitarian impact of climate change.

• Author: Wahlstrom, Margareta

Climate change is an issue so large in scope and so potentially overwhelming in importance that it might be helpful for us to pause and focus our attention on practical steps we can take to adapt to a warming planet and reduce its negative impacts.

Consider the adaptation mechanisms of two mammals: polar bears and humans. Polar bears have evolved over thousands of years to adapt to a harsh climate. But today we see these magnificent animals stranded on melting ice floes, struggling to stay afloat. They have no time to adapt and could be extinct in a few decades. And what about humans? How will we stay afloat with rising sea levels, more extreme weather, intensive storms, flooding, heat-waves and droughts coming our way, as scientists agree they will? Unlike polar bears, we can adapt more readily to protect ourselves from natural disasters, including the many effects of global warming. Using simple, cost-effective methods, we can save lives, lands and livelihoods. We have the knowledge and experience to make a critical difference in reducing risks. What is needed is the will to do so now before the next disaster strikes.

Indeed, we have no time to waste. Over the past 30 years, disasters--storms, floods and droughts--have increased threefold, according to the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR). In 2006 alone, 134 million people suffered from natural hazards that cost $35 billion in damages, including the devastating droughts in China and Africa, in addition to massive flooding throughout Asia and Africa. These disasters scarred lives, shattered families, stripped away livelihoods and set back development efforts.

Not only are natural hazards becoming more frequent, but rapid urbanization and population growth mean more people are now at risk. Disasters triggered by these hazards have affected five times more people than they did only a generation ago. Megacities like Tokyo, built on seismic areas, or exposed coastlines like Shanghai, are at particular risk. In such cities as Mumbai, Cairo, Mexico City and Lagos, each with more than 10 million residents, decaying infrastructure, land erosion, crowded conditions and a paucity of rescue services could spell potential calamity should an earthquake or powerful storm hit.

Global warming will exacerbate our growing vulnerability to disasters. As outlined in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, hundreds of millions of people will be at increased danger from...