ABSTRACT
Climate change, water and poverty are intimately intertwined in the developing world because climate change will manifest itself primarily through variation in the availability of water. Lack of clean, fresh water is one of the primary reasons for adverse health outcomes. Water-borne diseases such as diarrhoea, typhoid and cholera, increase infant and child mortality as well as morbidity and mortality among the adults. Lack of water also impairs general hygiene and contributes to spreading of other contagious diseases (Cairncross, 2003; Johnstone et al. 2002). The other main contributor to adverse health outcomes – malnutrition – is tied to the availability of water for cultivation and livestock rearing and the time needed for collecting water for human consumption. As health and nutrition are important preconditions for the capacity to work and to generate income (Fogel, 1994; Szreter, 1997), their lack is also a reason for poverty.
