Syud A Ahmed et al 2009 Environ. Res. Lett. 4 034004 doi:10.1088/1748-9326/4/3/034004
Syud A Ahmed1, Noah S Diffenbaugh2,3 and Thomas W Hertel2,4,5
Show affiliationsExtreme climate events could influence poverty by affecting agricultural productivity and raising prices of staple foods that are important to poor households in developing countries. With the frequency and intensity of extreme climate events predicted to change in the future, informed policy design and analysis requires an understanding of which countries and groups are going to be most vulnerable to increasing poverty. Using a novel economic-climate analysis framework, we assess the poverty impacts of climate volatility for seven socio-economic groups in 16 developing countries. We find that extremes under present climate volatility increase poverty across our developing country sample—particularly in Bangladesh, Mexico, Indonesia, and Africa—with urban wage earners the most vulnerable group. We also find that global warming exacerbates poverty vulnerability in many nations.
93.85.-q Instruments and techniques for geophysical research: Exploration geophysics
Instrumentation and measurement
Issue 3 (July-September 2009)
Received 20 March 2009, accepted for publication 20 July 2009
Published 20 August 2009
Syud A Ahmed et al 2009 Environ. Res. Lett. 4 034004