I was discussing with someone about how climate change has significantly affected farm products, and the plans of farmers this year, but it is not only farm products that have been affected, the health of humans is being affected too. When we speak about the impact of climate change, we need to understand, changes in precipitation, warming temperatures, and increases in the intensity or frequency of some serious weather events. These changes create an impact on the food consumed, water, and even the air that we breathe.
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A study was carried out in 2016 by the US global change research and the research produced a result that analyzed the impact of global climate change on human health. The result from the study showed that, climate change has created a significant threat on the lives of the American people.
Climate change affects human health in two different ways; by changing the severity of health problems that are affected by climate or weather factors, then secondly, through the creation of unanticipated health problems or health threats in those areas where they have not previously occurred.
The research result also proved that, every American stands a fair chance of being affected by the health issues associated with climate changes. But, some group of people are however more at risk than others, this includes the poor, and certain communities.
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While people in developing countries may be most vulnerable when it comes to global health risk, climate change still significantly poise threat even to wealthy nations. Some populations that are filled more with older adults, pregnant women, younger children face a higher risk.
Extreme heat is a strong factor these days, exposure to extreme heat could result in dehydration, heat stroke, cerebrovascular disease, and respiratory disease. Extreme heat will usually affect populations that live in northern latitudes, those areas where people are not adequately prepared for excessive temperatures.
Climate change makes the quality of air worse, it does this by increasing ground-level ozone, wildfire smoke, and pollen. This creates respiratory and cardiovascular problems, like heart attacks, strokes, exacerbation, and even premature death. Healthcare infrastructures could get destroyed by the existence of extreme weather that is amplified by climate changes like floods, hurricanes, and wildfires, which create serious health threats.
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Climate change significantly affects seasons, geographical ranges, and the spread of several infectious diseases. Warming temperatures give room for disease-carrying ticks, mosquitoes, and vectors that thrive well in new regions. It contributes significantly to the spread of water-borne illnesses.
Like the discussion I was having with my friend, climate change threatens the yield of crops, the production of animals, and access to safe water. This will contribute significantly to the risk of malnutrition and food-water-borne infections. Floods, droughts, and changes in seasonal weather conditions alter the production of communities to reliably produce and access sufficient clean water and nutritious food.
In conclusion, we need to know that even if the health impacts associated with climate change affect everyone, it will be strongly effective depending on how vulnerable the population is, the resilience of the people to the current rate of climate change, and the pace with which they can adapt. It is an unfortunate reality that the people who least contribute to the effect of climate change are the ones who suffer from it the most, those who live in low-income and disadvantaged nations and communities.
Mental illness, distress, and trauma that happen in response to the events of floods, storms, and wildfires can lead to chronic mental health situations, conflict, and migrations. Climate anxiety and eco stress impact several especially young people who need to cope with the uncertainty of an unstable future.
For Further Studies.
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/climate-change-and-health
https://climatechange.chicago.gov/climate-impacts/climate-impacts-human-health
https://www.oneearth.org/why-climate-change-is-a-public-health-issue/
https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/health/brief/health-and-climate-change
https://climatepromise.undp.org/news-and-stories/climate-crisis-health-crisis-heres-why
https://www.cdc.gov/climate-health/php/effects/index.html
Hi, I am Tobi a writer, speaker, relationship blogger, and lover of good music. I love making friends and learning from people. Want to hear me speak on relationships and general life issues, you can find my YouTube channel where you can listen and watch any episode for free, please If do not forget to subscribe, friends. I sincerely appreciate every love I get from here, Kindly do well to keep them coming.