Health Effects of Climate Change

by Araceli Camargo & Sarah Aliko
 
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Climate change is the greatest challenge facing society today. The trends of pollution, in particular air pollution, have been steadily growing in the last few decades and have reached record highs.

Research has predicted that in less than a decade, pollution will increase average temperatures by more than 1℃, meaning not only seasonal temperatures will become more extreme, but the melting of ice caps and glaciers will result in widespread floodings in areas close to bodies of water.

The persistent degradation of the natural environment has currently been the cause of mass extinctions and increasing incidence of natural disasters, such as hurricanes and wildfires. These events are already destroying the homes and livelihoods of many communities, not to mention causing death, leading to trauma. In future, we can expect these events to become even more common and cause more widespread damage, especially in deprived areas.

It is important, then, to redefine our view of health to consider these phenomena and the impact they will have on the daily lived experiences of the individual. A first step in an ecological health direction would be to spatially map regions that are likely to be subjected to floodings and natural disasters, and investigate the current status of the communities living there.

This assessment should help identify potential stressors, both psychosocial and environmental, and help predict the impact of climate change, to be used to create preventative measures.

 

Resources

  1. Butt, E. W. et al. Global and regional trends in particulate air pollution and attributable health burden over the past 50 years. Environ. Res. Lett. 12, 104017 (2017).

  2. Hong, C. et al. Impacts of climate change on future air quality and human health in China. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 116, 17193–17200 (2019).

  3. Alan Buis NASA’s Global Climate Change Website. A Degree of Concern: Why Global Temperatures Matter – Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet. https://climate.nasa.gov/news/2878/a-degree-of-concern-why-global-temperatures-matter/.

  4. Mousavi, M. E., Irish, J. L., Frey, A. E., Olivera, F. & Edge, B. L. Global warming and hurricanes: the potential impact of hurricane intensification and sea level rise on coastal flooding. Clim. Change 104, 575–597 (2011).

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What is Air Pollution

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The Impact of Pollution on Health