Climate Change- How Bad Is It for Your Health

In the past 2000 years, it is unprecedented that modern society has an increased continuity of dependency on fossil fuels and is warming the world at a pace. According to a landmark report from the United Nations on the state of climate science, its effects are already apparent as record cyclones, floods, droughts devastate the communities worldwide. The assessment of U.N.’s Intragovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says if greenhouse-gas emissions continue, things will be poised to get worse, and the future of the planet depends, in vast part, on the choices that humanity makes today.

 

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, “The alarm bells are deafening, and this must sound a death knell for coal and fossil fuels before they destroy our planet.”

 

IPCC report notes that Earth is warmer than it’s been in 125000 years. This Landmark assessment says that Greenhouse Gases unequivocally drive extreme weather. Many scientific reports have claimed that the Earth has warmed by approximately 1.1 degrees Celsius or 2 degrees Fahrenheit since the 19th century, and the warming trend is significantly accelerating. Furthermore, the U.N. climate change report has warned that without global effort, temperatures can increase by an apocalyptic 4 degrees Celsius by 2100 and can cause catastrophic “tipping points” such as the collapse of ice sheets, wholesale changes in circulation patterns in the oceans that will radically disrupt the world’s weather and agriculture. The report concludes, those are low likelihood but cannot be ruled out.

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How does climate change affect human health?

 

Undoubtedly, climate change impacts health in numerous ways: directly, through extreme weather or temperature changes; and indirectly through changes to natural systems that result in crop failures, expanding disease vectors, and Displacement of persons. As United Nations Human Rights articulated, these mechanisms contribute significantly to human vulnerability to disease and injury, diminished occupational and mental health, and resource scarcity and migration risks. 

According to the Fifth Assessment Report of the IPCC, climate change will result in greater risk of injury, disease, and death due to increased heat and fire; higher risk of undernutrition due to decreased food availability and accessibility; lowered work capacity and productivity; and greater risk of food-, water- and vector-borne diseases. Globally, 400,000 premature deaths have been linked to climate change (DARA, 2012), and approximately 250,000 additional deaths due to climate change are expected per year between 2030 and 2050 (WHO, 2014).

 

Let’s explore some of the significant Human Health Effects of Climate Change that you may not be aware of-

 

1. Pediatric Health issues- 

 

Although some of the most apparent impacts of the Earth’s changing climate are rising waters, extreme temperatures, and other major weather events, this global issue has turned out to be a public health crisis for vulnerable populations, too. And children are among the most endangered.

 

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Increasing temperatures, air pollution, and extreme precipitation have led to heat-related deaths, asthma, and even waterborne illness in children. Sicknesses like these are likely to worsen over the next decade. Being exposed to high temperatures can cause heat-related conditions like heat stroke, exhaustion, and rashes, as Medical Experts says. Some of these illnesses, such as dehydration and electrolyte imbalance, are peaking right now.

 

Dr. Hayley Guilkey, a pediatrician and founder of S.C. Health Professionals for Climate Action organization said, “Right now, infants suffer the second-highest rate of heat-related deaths, after the elderly, and some studies project they will experience the tremendous increase in mortality rates due to rising global temperatures.

 

A contaminated water source created by extreme rainfall, which creates a flushing mechanism for anything on the ground, could mean a shortage of clean drinking water. This shortage makes billion of people worldwide who lack access to safe drinking water and creates a higher risk for waterborne illness like diarrhea, cholera, typhoid, shigella, hepatitis A and E.

 

2. Asthma and allergies

 

It’s anticipated that approximately 235 million cases are for asthma every year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). With earlier springs, later frosts, and more rain, ragweed season lasts between 15 and 25 days longer in the Midwest than in 1995.

 

“People who complain of new or worsening allergies maybe don’t see that climate change is a cause,” says Regina Deleon-Gomez, MD, an obstetrics and gynecology hospitalist at Northwest Community Healthcare. More pollen in the air also raises the risk for more severe asthma attacks. 

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The level of air pollution in an area, the higher the number, the more dangerous the air is for people with breathing issues, as the air quality index shows. Studies have found that poor air quality can hamper people with respiratory diseases and even those without respiratory problems.

 
4. Heart disease and stroke

 

Scientists have linked smog to heart attacks and temperature increases to stroke. Heat stress increases the body’s temperature, which can cause a cascade of responses in our bodies, according to a 2020 study in Nature Reviews Cardiology. In extreme heat, we sweat more, heart and breathing rates go up, and blood vessels dilate. These changes can lead to heart imbalances, increased artery pressure, inflammation, and impaired blood clotting.

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5. Risks to pregnancies

 

Air pollution and heat exposure are linked with devastating outcomes for pregnant people and babies: preterm delivery, low birth weight, and stillbirth.

 

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6. Tick and mosquito diseases

 

Rising temperatures and more rain mean more time for ticks and mosquitos and the diseases they spread. Blacklegged ticks, which carry Lyme disease, are expanding their territory. Milder winters will also help mosquitoes spread and dengue, Zika, West Nile, and chikungunya viruses.

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7. Mental health

 

For an increasing number of people, stress and worry about an uncertain future create mental health issues, called eco-anxiety. According to the American Psychological Association, almost half of people ages 18 to 34 report that climate change stress impacts their daily lives, and 68% of adults report at least some eco-anxiety.

Medical experts say this is relatively newer, but younger people feel anxious and depressed about the future.

 

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8. Climate-driven ocean change threatening Human Health

 

The diverse human cultures, livelihoods, and ways of life that flow to and from the sea are from our ancestors to the new generation, but rising greenhouse gas emissions are changing the ocean and putting our health at risk. Ocean waters are now warmer, more acidic, and hold less oxygen. Ocean ecosystems, already stressed from overfishing and pollution, face escalating risks of further degradation. With melting sea ice, rising sea levels, and growing extreme weather events, human health and well-being now face many threats, most aimed at the coastal population.

 

Some concerning health effects are highlighted as the following-

 

Hydrologic Disasters and Health Issues

 

Marked by their swift and destructive power, natural disasters are becoming more extreme and frequent with climate change. For instance, tropical cyclones (like hurricanes and typhoons), which have killed about 1.33 million people since the beginning of the 20th century, are getting more intense with warming ocean waters. Category 4 and 5 hurricanes have increased 25 to 30 percent for each degree Celsius of human-induced global warming since the mid-1970s.

 

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Storm surges, flooding, and physical trauma cause most fatalities and injuries. But in the wake of disaster, environmental and social conditions also threaten public health.

Stagnant water and damaged wastewater systems can expose people to toxins, bacteria, and viruses. Interruptions to health care and negative impacts on housing, employment, and other social determinants of health subject people to distressing conditions (such as crowded shelters and Displacement) beyond the trauma of the event.

This can worsen a broad spectrum of public health issues, from infectious diseases (like cholera, leptospirosis, and diarrheal diseases) to non-communicable infections (such as cardiovascular and respiratory conditions) to adverse mental health.

An increase in hospitalizations has been put on record among disaster-affected populations weeks, months, and years later.

 

Migration and Displacement related Health concerns-

 

With the rise of the global sea level, coastal flooding is becoming more common and severe. Another 250,000 square kilometers of coastal land is projected to flood by the end of the century, exposing tens of millions more people to risks.

Advancing ocean waters, erosion, and thawing permafrost can make some coastal settlements hard or impossible to live in. Pieces of evidence show that relocations can lead to distress and trauma when residents have a strong attachment to a place.

The health dimensions of climate-related migrations, especially those who stay or are left behind, have not received enough attention in research and policy.

 

Sea Ice Decline

 

Researches, especially NASA, has illustrated that over the past 40 years, Arctic sea ice has become smaller and thinner. Its overall extent has declined about 13 percent per decade, and its thickness has decreased by at least 1.75 meters.

 

Sea ice is a defining feature of life in the Arctic. It provides a platform for travel and harvesting activities and shapes ecological processes based on local cultures, economies, knowledge, and food systems. The sea ice decline makes navigation more dangerous and less predictable. It can change the timing and location of harvests, increase harvesting costs and reduce how much is harvested. This can lead to less food and money, more anxiety about food access, and greater reliance on less healthy imported foods, negatively affecting food security and mental health.

 

Seafood crisis

 

Seafood is a crucial source of protein and essential nutrients, especially in short supply from other locally accessible foods. But it’s been scrutinized that climate change is already driving species towards the North and South Poles. It is predicted that this may lead to serious declines in seafood catches by 2050 and negatively affect millions globally, with the most severe impacts in developing countries among coastal Indigenous Peoples.

 

When diets shift to processed foods high in calories and sodium, the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease increase.

 
Ocean Waters, Micro-plastic, and Seafood- Devastating Health Hazards

 

The ocean is polluted with mercury, industrial chemicals, pharmaceuticals, microplastics, and more. It also harbors many naturally occurring micro-organisms, like flesh-eating bacteria and cholera, and toxins. These can become dangerous to human health when ocean chemistry, temperature rise, and other marine ecosystem dynamics are altered, leading to shellfish poisoning, mercury exposure and poisoning, and other illnesses.

Climate change will alter the distribution and severity of pollutants, i.e., infections from some strains of vibrio bacteria may become more frequent and widespread with warming waters. Even rising methylmercury concentrations in tuna have been linked to increasing seawater temperature.

 

In essence, scientists have shown their concern about the devastating health effects caused by climate change accelerating at an alarming rate. “Climate change is happening, and people feel it,” says Zhang, a climatologist at Environment Canada in Toronto, Ontario, “The evidence is everywhere: if we don’t act, the situation is going to get worse.”. Therefore, urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts should be taken to stop this down.

Nishat Tasnim

Environmental Science and Technology

Jessore University of Science & Technology