GS Paper 3
Syllabus: Conservation, Environmental Pollution and Degradation
Source:
Context: The World Meteorological Congress, the supreme body of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), is currently holding its 19th session (Cg-19).
The outcome of the Congress: It recognised climate change as a threat to human health and endorsed a 10-year plan – The 2023-2033 Implementation Plan for Advancing Climate, Environment and Health Science and Services by the WHO-WMO, to scale up health services.
About the plan:
Aim: To achieve better health and well-being for people facing existing and emerging extreme weather events, climate change and environmental risks.
How?
- Through the effective integration of climate, environment and health science and services across the world.
- It will promote a coordinated approach to managing the impact of climate, weather, air pollution, ultraviolet radiation, extreme events, etc., on health.
Significance: It is significant when
- Climate-related illnesses (like malaria and dengue), premature deaths, malnutrition and threats to mental health and well-being are increasing.
- Climate-related cascading risks of extreme heat (15,000 people died in Europe in 2022), wildfire and air quality-related health risks are increasing.
Significance for India:
- In 2022, India recorded its hottest March which triggered an early onslaught of heat waves across north, central and east India from March-May.
- Extreme heat will oust 600 million Indians from their climate niche, exposing them to extreme temperatures by 2030.
Challenges:
Way ahead:
- The Early Warnings for All initiative: Extreme heat is a focus area of this UN initiative, which is one of the top strategic priorities at Cg-19.
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