Some particulate matter such as dust, wildfire smoke, and sea spray occur naturally, while some is created by human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels to produce energy. These particles may be emitted directly or may be formed in the atmosphere from chemical reactions of gases such as sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, and volatile organic compounds.
Due to the complex factors that influence atmospheric levels of fine particulate matter, scientists do not yet know whether climate change will increase or decrease particulate matter concentrations across the United States. Climate-related changes in stagnant air episodes, wind patterns, emissions from vegetation and the chemistry of atmospheric pollutants will also affect particulate matter levels. Take our quiz to see how much you know about the health impacts of climate change!
Allergic illnesses, including hay fever, affect about one-third of the U. Increases in the frequency or severity of some extreme weather events, such as extreme precipitation, flooding, droughts, and storms, threaten the health of people during and after the event. Extreme events can affect human health in a number of ways by:. In addition, emergency evacuations pose health risks to older adults, especially those with limited mobility who cannot use elevators during power outages.
Evacuations may be complicated by the need for concurrent transfer of medical records, medications, and medical equipment. Some individuals with disabilities may also be disproportionally affected if they are unable to access evacuation routes, have difficulty in understanding or receiving warnings of impending danger, or have limited ability to communicate their needs. Vectorborne diseases are illnesses that are transmitted by disease vectors , which include mosquitoes, ticks, and fleas.
These vectors can carry infectious pathogens, such as viruses, bacteria, and protozoa, from animals to humans. Changes in temperature, precipitation, and extreme events increases the geographic range of diseases spread by vectors and can lead to illnesses occurring earlier in the year.
The spread of climate-sensitive diseases will depend on both climate and non-climate factors such as land use, socioeconomic and cultural conditions, pest control, access to health care, and human responses to disease risk. The United States has public health infrastructure and programs to monitor, manage, and prevent the spread of many diseases.
The risks for climate-sensitive diseases can be much higher in poorer countries that have less capacity to prevent and treat illness. West Nile virus is maintained in transmission cycles between birds the natural hosts of the virus and mosquitoes. Human infections can occur from a bite of a mosquito that has previously bitten an infected bird.
Warmer winters, longer frost-free season, and earlier spring arrival may influence the migration patterns and fledgling survival of birds that are the natural host of West Nile virus. In addition, rising temperature, changing precipitation patterns, and a higher frequency of extreme weather events are likely to influence the distribution and abundance of mosquitoes that transmit West Nile virus. People can become ill if exposed to contaminated drinking or recreational water.
Climate change increases the risk of illness through increasing temperature, more frequent heavy rains and runoff, and the effects of storms. Health impacts may include gastrointestinal illness like diarrhea, effects on the body's nervous and respiratory systems, or liver and kidney damage. Water resource, public health, and environmental agencies in the United States provide many public health safeguards to reduce risk of exposure and illness even if water becomes contaminated.
These include water quality monitoring, drinking water treatment standards and practices, beach closures, and issuing advisories for boiling drinking water and harvesting shellfish.
Climate change and the direct impacts of higher concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are expected to affect food safety and nutrition. The food system involves a network of interactions with our physical and biological environments as food moves from production to consumption, or from "farm to table. Any changes in a person's physical health or surrounding environment can also have serious impacts on their mental health.
In particular, experiencing an extreme weather event can cause stress and other mental health consequences, particularly when a person loses loved ones or their home. Learn about how climate change will affect your health over the course of your life, and see its impacts on eight different populations of concern.
Some groups of people are more vulnerable than others to health risks from climate change. For example, while older adults are sensitive to extreme heat, an older person living in an air-conditioned apartment won't be exposed as long as she stays indoors, and as long as she can afford to pay for the electricity to run the air conditioner.
Her ability take these actions is a measure of her adaptive capacity. Some populations are especially vulnerable to climate health risks due to particular sensitivities, high likelihood of exposure, low adaptive capacity, or combinations of these factors. Other linkages exist between climate change and human health. For example, changes in temperature and precipitation, as well as droughts and floods, will affect agricultural yields and production. The worst of these effects are projected to occur in developing countries, among vulnerable populations.
Although the impacts of climate change have the potential to affect human health in the United States and around the world, there is a lot we can do to prepare for and adapt to these changes—such as establishing early warning systems for heat waves and other extreme events, taking steps to reduce vulnerabilities among populations of concern, raising awareness among healthcare professionals, and ensuring that infrastructure is built to accommodate anticipated future changes in climate.
Understanding the threats that climate change poses to human health is the first step in working together to lower risks and be prepared. Crimmins, A. Balbus, J. Gamble, C. Beard, J. Bell, D. Dodgen, R. Eisen, N.
Fann, M. Hawkins, S. Herring, L. Jantarasami, D. Mills, S. Saha, M. Sarofim, J. Trtanj, and L. Ziska, Eds. People suffering from heart problems are more vulnerable to increased temperatures, especially those living in already warm areas, as their cardiovascular system must work harder to keep their body cool.
Hot temperatures increase the ozone concentration, which can damage people's lung tissue and cause complications for asthma patients and those with lung diseases. Increased global warming can also pose a threat to national security, affecting food security, which, in turn, can lead to resource conflicts.
Despite opposition from many Council members, such as the Russian Federation and China, she argued that the loss of basic needs due to climate change in poor countries can increase the risk of conflicts. Similarly, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has labelled climate change as "an act of aggression by the rich against the poor". On a positive note, many countries have now realized the grave consequences of global warming.
Protest participants in many American cities like Boston and New York have urged the Government to reduce emissions up to 80 per cent by ; some 1, protest events have been organized in the United States under the Step It Up banner.
In Sydney, Australia, businesses and homeowners switched off their lights to acknowledge the critical issue of global warming. Likewise, corporations are realizing the need to become environmentally friendly.
PepsiCo, a global beverage and snack company, plans to purchase 1 billion kilowatt hours of renewable energy over the next year. However, the major impact on reducing the effects of global warming cannot be made without the commitment of those countries that account for the greatest production of greenhouse gases. The development of conflict-sensitive approaches highlights how sustainable development can be made more effective through a consideration of peace and security.
Despite numerous challenges and obstacles, which are far greater now than prior to the events of August , there are still many ways for the international community to help education move forward in Afghanistan. As we find ourselves in the greatest education crisis of our generation, literacy interventions can act as an antidote to the long-term effects of COVID Skip to main content. The planet has already warmed 1 degree Celsius and temperatures could rise even more — significantly changing life as we know it.
Climate action is just what the doctor ordered. And we mean that quite literally. Medical professionals have increasingly been sounding the alarm about the risks and consequences of continually burning fossil fuels.
The same dirty fossil fuel emissions that contribute to the greenhouse effect can lead to respiratory diseases — such as asthma — in children and adults.
And they can be quite dangerous. Air pollution kills an estimated 7 million people worldwide every year, according to the World Health Organization.
By trapping heat into our planet, carbon emissions also damage the human body and mind in other ways. But did you know that warmer temperatures are linked to a 2 percent increase in mental health issues such as stress, anxiety, and even PTSD?
But for many living in coastal communities, sea-level rise could lead to an unwanted and sudden move. As our globe warms, glaciers melt and ocean water expands, leading seas to rise about 7 to 8 inches on average since — about 3 inches of that since The added volume of water creeping up coastlines slowly swallows land and homes and fuels more flooding inland to name just a few impacts.
For example, in the United States, from to , the median annual number of flood days more than doubled on the East Coast between Florida and North Carolina, thanks in part to rising sea levels.
In Miami, even residents that live far away from the beach could be forced to relocate. Lower-income, people of color, and immigrants could lose their homes to wealthy residents who want to move away from the coast and into neighborhoods safe from the water, driving property values and rents up and out of reach of regular people. No two people in this world are exactly the same.
0コメント