Written by Jacob Liu and edited by Amanda Fang
As recent trends of climate change lead to the upheaval of weather patterns, global warming becomes a pressing stress factor for Earth’s ecosystems. Life around the world is being affected by an ongoing increase in average temperatures. With more drastic heat waves, there is an increased interest in examining how rising temperatures impact human health. Current studies by the World Health Organisation (WHO) project that there will be approximately 250,000 more deaths per year between 2030-2050 that are due to extreme heat, natural disasters, and changing patterns of infections [1]. As such, it becomes increasingly important to inform and educate the public on how global warming induces more heat stress on the human body, which negatively affects human health and everyday life.
In the last half century, Earth has warmed by an average of 1.53°F as human activities produce greater greenhouse gas emissions [2]. While the average change in temperature may not seem that extreme in terms of local weather temperatures, the magnitude on a global scale is staggering. With higher temperatures, rapid rises in the heat retained in the body can compromise the body’s ability to thermoregulate, leading to a variety of illnesses such as heat exhaustion, heatstroke, and hyperthermia [3]. In 2015 alone, 175 million additional people were exposed to heat waves and many of these events contributed to increased mortality rates [4]. The dangers of heat-related illnesses are especially alarming for younger children, the elderly, and those with pre-aggravated cardiovascular, neurological, and respiratory issues due to their impaired ability to adjust to drastic temperature changes [5].
In addition, changing climate patterns have contributed to higher temperatures in previously cooler, temperate zones, assisting in the spread of infection through vector- and water-borne diseases. As winters become milder, springs arrive earlier, and summers become warmer. With these seasonal changes, various mosquito, tick, and flea populations reproduce and infect people for longer periods each year, increasing rates of vector-borne diseases like Lyme disease and malaria. Greater infections also result from the loss of species’ natural habitats due to changing climates; habitat loss pushes these species into areas occupied by humans [6]. Climate change also puts strain on our infrastructure. More extreme precipitation events strains run-down sewer systems and treatments plants, contaminating the water and increasing the chance for an outbreak. This, along with rising temperatures due to increased carbon dioxide emissions, provides favorable conditions for harmful algal blooms, which produce toxins, including carcinogens, that disrupt human health and local marine ecosystems [7].
Various environmental agencies and governments around the world are evaluating how climate change and global warming will affect human and ecological wellness. This increased attention has pushed climate change into the spotlight as a major issue in public health, environmental protection, and politics. Action can fall on a broad spectrum of potentials, but the current trajectory illustrates the immediacy of climate change and danger in dismissing the issue. Climate change will affect everybody in the coming age, and the effects will only be exacerbated without proper action taken to protect human and environmental health.
Works Cited
- World Health Organization. (2021, October 30). Climate change and health. World Health Organization. Retrieved May 6, 2023, from https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/climate-change-and-health
- Bein, T., Karagiannidis, C., & Quintel, M. (2020). Climate change, global warming, and intensive care. Intensive Care Medicine, 46(3), 485–487. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00134-019-05888-4
- Khan, A. A. (2019). Heat related illnesses: Review of an ongoing challenge. Saudi Medical Journal, 40(12), 1195–1201. https://doi.org/10.15537/smj.2019.12.24727
- World Health Organization. (2018, June 1). Heat and health. World Health Organization. Retrieved May 6, 2023, from https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/climate-change-heat-and-health
- Assistant Secretary for Health. (2023, May 4). Extreme Heat | How warm will it be, and where, over the next 3 months? Department of Health and Human Services. Retrieved May 6, 2023, from https://www.hhs.gov/climate-change-health-equity-environmental-justice/climate-change-health-equity/climate-health-outlook/extreme-heat/index.html
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022, August 2). Climate change and infectious diseases. National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID). Retrieved May 6, 2023, from https://www.cdc.gov/ncezid/what-we-do/climate-change-and-infectious-diseases/index.html
- Luber, G., & Prudent, N. (2009). Climate change and human health. Transactions of the American Clinical and Climatological Association, 120, 113–117.