bibliography

Global Warming and Human Health

Nouf Alshahri

Mr. Elliot

3/6/17

GLOBAL WARMING AND HUMAN HEALTH

Introduction

Human health refers to the state of soberness in terms of the mind, the body and the soul. The world health organization has defined health as the state of the body being free from illnesses or injuries. Environment on the other hand, is the immediate environment of the human being which affects all aspects in life. The environment is in control of the healthy and unhealthy environment and thus can moderate on the effects on the health of the human beings. One of the environmental factors that affect the human health to a great extent is the global warming (Martens, 2014). According to United States department of health and human service, climate change is likely to cause 250, 000 more deaths annually. This is likely to result from malaria, diarrhea and heat stress.

Global warming has significant impact on the health of human beings. These effects can be classified into two major categories. First, global warming affects the frequency of health problems that are already affected by climate. Secondly, global warming creates unprecedented health problems in places where they were never expected (Clayton, 2014). Global warming cause’s extreme climate changes such as severe drought, extreme high temperatures, hurricanes, increased storm intensity and storm surge. As climate changes increases, health problems are also likely to intensify as a result of poor air quality, natural disasters, allergens and extreme heat and many other factors. In this paper, I would like to focus on the climatic effects of global warming and how they affect human health.

Global warming causes extreme climatic changes such as extreme heat and heavy rainfall which affects the food we eat, the air we breathe and the water we drink. It is important to establish how global warming affects the temperature on earth so that we identify how it’s related to health problems. Global warming results from pollution in industries, machines we use such as vehicles and human activities such as deforestation. Manufacturing industries produce lethal chemicals and gases which combine to form greenhouse gases which destroys the ozone layer. The ozone layer, is purported to be an atmospheric layer that protects humans from the harmful radiation from the sun (Change., 2014). The depletion of the ozone layer as a result of pollution and increased deforestation allows the entry of harmful radiation hence resulting to an increase in both average and extreme earth temperatures.

When earth temperatures increase beyond the normal range, the overall seasonal temperatures is also affected. This in turn affects the summer and winter temperatures, in that, extremely high temperatures could be experienced in summer while extremely low temperatures could be experienced in winter. This compromises the ability of the body to regulate its temperature (Martens, 2014). When humans lose the ability to control their internal body temperature, they are likely to suffer from hyperthermia, heatstroke and dehydration during high temperatures. When the temperatures are lower beyond the normal range, human are likely to suffer from hypothermia and frostbites. The extreme level of these conditions can result to cardiovascular, respiratory and cerebrovascular diseases (Clayton, 2014).

Global warming affects both the indoor and outdoor air we breathe. This occurs as a result of the changes in the location and levels of outdoor air pollutants such as ozone layer and carbon dioxide. Increase in the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere facilitates the growth of plants that release aeroallergens (CDC, 2015). The combination of outdoor air and aeroallergens affects the quality of indoor air. When there is change in the level allergens produced by plants, it affects the quality of outdoor air leading to the development of chronic allergic illnesses such as asthma. As a result of global warming, harmful gases get stuck on the ground level hence increasing the levels of ground ozone gas which in turn leads to premature deaths (WHO, 2014). As a result of human activities such agricultural spraying, construction and mining, release dusts particles and other inorganic compounds to the atmosphere. The inhalation of these chemicals results to adverse health effects such as cancer and chronic respiratory diseases.

Global warming also increases vector borne diseases. Vector borne diseases are stipulated to be diseases that are transmitted by vectors such as ticks and mosquitoes. Vectors are known to be carriers of highly infectious pathogens such as protozoa, bacteria and viruses. These pathogens can be transferred from the host to other people (CDC, 2015). Global warming affects seasonality hence influencing the prevalence and distribution of these vectors. For example, ticks are established to be the carriers of a dangerous bacteria causing Lyme disease. Increase in temperature on earth affects the length of seasonal activity of the vector and expands their geographical range hence increasing the risk of human exposure to the infectious pathogens (CDC, 2015). Climate change alters the viral reproduction and lengthens the transmission season of these vectors hence increasing their distribution and abundance of the vector borne diseases. This poses a risk to the human beings as a result of increase in the level of infection.

Global warming also affects both marine and fresh water resources, thus, exposing people to water-related illnesses. There are places on earth which are never affected by water borne diseases as a result of cool water temperatures. Global warming result to increase in overall earth temperatures and this increases temperature in these cool regions. This facilitates the development of water-related pathogens and algal toxins that causes illnesses through the ingestion of water or sea food. Increased temperature provides a suitable condition for the growth and geographical distribution of toxins in fresh water which later facilitates the growth of harmful algae that causes a variety of diseases. Apart from increased temperatures, global warming also causes increased level of precipitation, run off and storm surges. This increases the growth and virulence of toxic agents that cause water-borne diseases. Extreme climatic conditions such as storm surges and hurricanes may also damage water infrastructures constructed to hold drinking water (Change., 2014). This increases the exposure to harmful contaminants and pathogens hence facilitating the spread of water related illnesses.

Extreme environmental changes may project serious changes to the temperature and precipitation levels which may lead to natural disasters that may threaten the health and safety of human beings. For example, increased temperatures as a result of global warming alters the seasonality of weather leading to changed precipitation patterns and prolonged drought. Prolonged drought causes forest fires which puts human lives in danger. Increased temperatures alters earthly temperatures which in turn expands the moisture holding capacity of the atmospheric particles (Clayton, 2014). This increases the occurrence of extreme rainfall that may result to flooding and increase in water level in some regions on earth. Prolonged drought may also result to desertification which boosts the growth of harmful bacteria in oceans. Dust from deserts is established to supply iron to oceans.

According to American Association for Advancement in science, desert dusts fuels the growth of vibrio which is a group of ocean bacteria that causes gastroenteritis (Martens, 2014). This a highly infectious disease in the human population. After floods, drought sets in and this reduces the availability of safe food and drinking water. After a storm, electric cables transmitting electricity from one region to another may be affected hence forcing people to use improper electric generators that produces harmful gases such as carbon monoxide. This may result to death as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Global warming directly impacts the level of carbon dioxide present in the atmosphere hence affecting the safety of food and its distribution. For example, when earthly temperatures rises beyond the normal range, bacterial-related food poisoning is also likely to increase. This is because, the presence of high temperature facilitates the growth of bacteria such as Salmonella which lead to food poisoning (CDC, 2015). Bacterial food poisoning causes severe gastrointestinal infection and death. Human spray crops with fertilizer, insecticides and weed killers. These are chemical contain complex compounds known as chlorofluorocarbons (Change., 2014). These compounds contain high concentration of certain elements such as fluorine which are highly volatile and can easily combine with carbon particles found in the atmosphere hence forming poisonous chemicals that may affect human health.

There has been increased level of concern over the effect of global warming on the mental condition of the human population. Mental health is established to range from minimal stress to suicidality. The cumulative and interactive changes in the surrounding environment can affect the mental health of individuals especially when the weather is extreme (Clayton, 2014). Extreme heat has been purported to increase susceptibility of individuals to mental illnesses due to heat waves. When temperatures are high, it my result to heat waves which may make increase difficulty in temperature regulation. A mentally ill person under medication may suffer more under heat stress as a result of the inability of the body to control its own temperature. This increases the severity of the diseases and even death. Increase in temperature affects people psychologically and some people who might be at a risk of psychological disturbance as a result of climatic changes include children and pregnant mothers. Pregnant mothers and children re sensitive to stress within their environment and extreme climatic change may impose more stress thus causing psychological imbalance (WHO, 2014).

Food security and production systems may also at risk as a result of climate change. Global warming effects results to changes in weather patterns hence affecting the planting and harvesting season. High level of precipitation motivates people to plant, but the sudden onset of low rainfall affects the growth of plants which require regular rainfall distribution such as maize and rice (WHO, 2014). This leads to lower food productivity hence shortage in agricultural yields. Lack of food exposes humans to malnutrition diseases such as kwashiorkor and marasmus.

There are certain groups of people who may be more vulnerable to the effects of global warming. These people are described as the population of concern (WHO, 2014). Population of concern encompasses, the poor, the community of color, pregnant women, the disabled and the older people. These people are stipulated to be vulnerable as a result of their level of sensitivity, their exposure and adaptability to climatic changes. Communities of color focuses on individuals from specific racial and ethnic groups. These people are purported to be more vulnerable because of their risk of exposure and medical prevalence conditions.

Sensitivity is established to be the degree at which individuals are affected by stressors such as extremely high or low temperatures. Children are established to be more vulnerable to climatic changes because they are biologically sensitive to changes in the environment. Children are also fond of playing outside. When the quality of outdoor air is affected, children are at a highly risk of exposure hence higher risk of health related infections because of their inability to withstand extreme temperatures and poor air quality (CDC, 2015). Older people on the other hand, have increased sensitivity to heat and contaminants. Low income may pose financial constraints to the older people hence reducing their level of adaptability to factors that may combat the impacts of climate change. Outdoor workers such as firefighters and transportation workers are at a higher risk of exposure to heat waves and vector borne diseases.

Wealthy nations are more likely to adapt effective measures in relation to climate related changes in comparison to poor countries. Hence, individuals from poor countries are likely to suffer from climate related impact caused by global warming. Human are the main causative agents of the devastating effects of global warming. It is therefore important to take necessary precautions to ensure we are prepared for the impending effects. Better planning is essential in building necessary infrastructure that will make humans more resilient to the effects of global warming. The cost of combating health risk resulting from climatic change are higher than the cost than the risk of combating the risks of the effects of global warming (Martens, 2014). It is therefore best to set contingent measures to ensure the effects of global warming are contained at a lower level.

Raising awareness and sensitization of the threats posed by global warming on our health is significant. Research and science institutes should also disseminate information and evidence of the link between climate change and human health (Change., 2014). Effective measures should also be provided to facilitate public response to climate change. Stringent measures and policies should be developed to assist countries in building capacity to reduce the vulnerability of the public to climate changes. In addition, we should also set measures that reduce the emission of harmful substances to the atmosphere. This will reduce emission of dangerous chemicals that destroys the ozone layer hence facilitating the restoration of our environment.

References

CDC. (2015). Lyme Disease: Data and Statistics: Maps- Reported Cases of Lyme Disease . United States: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Change., I. P. (2014). Climate Change 2014–Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability: Regional Aspects. Cambridge University Press.

Clayton, S. & Manning, C. (2014). Beyond Storms & Droughts: The Psychological Impacts of Climate Change. Washington, D.C: American Psychological Association and ecoAmerica.

Martens, P. (2014). Health and climate change: modelling the impacts of global warming and ozone depletion. Routledge.

WHO. (2014). Quantitative risk assessment of the effects of climate change on selected causes of death, 2030s and 2050s. Geneva: World Health Organization.