Falls are a major health challenge and represent the leading cause of accidental death in older adults. It is essential to identify those factors associated with an increased risk for falls and to develop specific programs for fall prevention. The risk of falling can be assessed in older adults using different parameters, including biological, psychosocial, socioeconomic, behavioral, and environmental factors. For example, the risk of falls increases when vision is impaired, when sleep quality is poor, or when mood is depressed. Moreover, physical parameters, such as changes in body mass and blood pressure are risk factors for falls in older adults.

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This study, Indus basin of Pakistan: the impacts of climate risks on water and agriculture was undertaken at a pivotal time in the region. The weak summer monsoon in 2009 created drought conditions throughout the country. This followed an already tenuous situation for many rural households faced with high fuel and fertilizer costs and the impacts of rising global food prices. Then catastrophic monsoon flooding in 2010 affected over 20 million people, devastating their housing, infrastructure, and crops. Damages from this single flood event were estimated at US dollar 10 billion, half of which were losses in the agriculture sector. Notwithstanding the debate as to whether these observed extremes are evidence of climate change, an investigation is needed regarding the extent to which the country is resilient to these shocks. It is thus timely, if not critical, to focus on climate risks for water, agriculture, and food security in the Indus basin of Pakistan.