From Vulnerability to Adaptation to Climate Change: Food for Thoughts in Social Sciences - Vulnerability of Coastal Ecosystems and Adaptation - page 247

Public and private transport, as well as the quality and diversity of
the transport network enable managing crises more or less effectively,
which can for instance help when evacuating a location or when
delivering food and first aid. Thus networks and transport systems can
support spatial organization which is adapted to natural and gradual
changes, i.e. the re-development of existing or new activities in other
parts of the territory. This leads to issues of population access to
vehicles, to practicable roads and to fallback spaces where they can be
taken care of (hospitals, temporary accommodation, etc.).
The type of energy used by households is a limiting factor or a
factor aggravating vulnerability as it reflects the dependence on a
source of energy, which is itself more or less sensitive to hazards.
Many households in the world use mainly wood to warm their homes
or to cook. In the event of fire, floods or in the longer term, reduction
of the local production of wood, what effects can be expected from the
challenges in harvesting this source of energy? Similarly, a city
without electricity over several days can face several problems, whose
extent will depend upon the ability of the territory to restore electricity
networks and energy production infrastructures.
Finally, sanitary conditions can increase or attenuate the level of
vulnerability. In theory, a healthy population tends to be less affected
by a hazard and its indirect consequences (mainly poor sanitation). As
the healthcare system will have fewer social and health emergencies to
attend to, it will in theory have more time to develop long-term and
more global adaptation strategies. Here, as for other elements, the
marginalization and inequality issues account for the fact that some
population groups are more at risk than others. However, it is worth
qualifying this statement as many populations which are immune to
certain pathologies can be vulnerable to new pathologies. Yet, climate
change brings new (or returning) diseases in areas where they had
been eradicated or had never been encountered.
The main conclusion that can be drawn at this stage is that, given
the diversity of influencing factors, they can only be studied with their
potential inter-relations in order to hold a coherent and realistic
discourse about vulnerability for a given territory or system. The study