Collective intelligence for addressing community planetary health resulting from salinity prompted by sea level rise
Byomkesh Talukder, Reza Salim, Sheikh Tawhidul Islam, Krishna Prosad Mondal, Keith W. Hipel, Gary W. vanLoon, James Orbinski
Abstract
Sea level rise-induced salinity encroachment is causing various community-level planetary health impacts in coastal areas worldwide. The coastal area of Bangladesh is no exception. Driven by sea level rise, coastal Bangladesh's salinity is amplified by other factors such as shrimp cultivation, reduction of transboundary river flow in the dry season, mismanagement of the embankment, and frequent cyclone-related storm surges. Due to the salinity encroachment in this region, water and soil salinity is increasing, resulting in multiple planetary health impacts. Based on twenty years of field observation and an extensive literature review, these health impacts can be categorized as (i) primary health consequences (communicable and non-communicable diseases; scarcity of potable water), (ii) secondary health consequences (food and nutrition security; migration and related health impacts) and (iii) tertiary health consequences (adaptation-related emerging diseases; disaster-related health vulnerability). By exploring these multidimensional health impacts and associated factors of salinity, a collective intelligence-based framework to address the health impacts is described in this paper. Collective intelligence can be a valuable technique to engage multiple stakeholders in sharing and gathering data, and to facilitate the modeling of the health impacts of salinity. Collective intelligence can also help indicate appropriate interventions to address the planetary health impacts of increasing salinity.