Vulnerabilidad y riesgo como conceptos indisociables para el estudio del impacto del cambio climático en la salud

Resumen

In several studies, the concepts of vulnerability and risk are reviewed separately, as if there is no relationship between them. From here emerges our objective to examine the analytical advantages of studying both within the same conceptual framework. As a methodology, the definitions of vulnerability and the risks used in different academic fields such as social, public health and the impact of climate and disasters were reviewed. The analytical implications were illustrated by the case of the high temperatures in the Northwest of Mexico. In the results, it becomes clear that the dissociation between vulnerability and risk leads to the underestimation of the analytical capacities of both concepts. Its integration provides methodological tools to develop precautionary actions against high temperatures, such as the identification of vulnerable groups in a specific geographical environment, and, in turn, possible ways to reduce exposure and vulnerability to climate change.