How Does Climate Change affect Human Health

For the last fifty years, human activities are adversely affecting nature. The burning of fossil fuels has led to the release of vast amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. It has led to the trapping of additional heat in the lower atmosphere, adversely affecting the global climate. 

According to the World Health Organization, the world’s heat has increased by 0.85 degrees celsius in the last 130 years. The last three decades have seen a drastic increase in the temperature of the earth. Sea levels have risen as the glaciers are melting. Precipitation patterns are changing, and extreme weather conditions can be seen more frequently. 

Impact of Climate Change on Health

Global warming has some localized benefits such as fewer deaths in winter, especially in places with shallow temperatures and increased food production in certain areas. But the overall effects of climate change on human health are very harmful. Climate change seems to be affecting many social and environmental determinants for health, such as clean air, safe drinking water, enough food and shelter, and many more. 

Intense Heat

Intense temperatures are the direct contributor to the death that occurs from cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, especially in the older adults of society. High temperatures also lead to raising the ozone level and other pollutants in the air that increase the risk of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases in humans. 

Those days that are hotter than that of the average temperature of the summer season have led to an increase in the levels of illness and death. This is due to the compromise made in the ability to regulate the temperature or due to the direct and indirect health complications. 

Natural Disaster and Variable Rainfall

The rise in the sea level and extreme weather events lead to the destruction of homes and medical facilities or other essential services. Mainly the people living near the water bodies are forced to leave their homes and shift to a safer place in the rainy season.  

It leads to an increase in mental disorders and infectious diseases in the persons leaving their homes. Variability in the rainfall pattern also disrupts the supply of fresh water in many areas. Shortage of safe water can lead to people compromising their hygiene. It increases the risk of diarrhoeal diseases in children, which is the leading cause of death of about 50000 children, below five years, per year. Water scarcity also causes drought in many places. 

Floods increase every year due to climate change. Its frequency and intensity are growing drastically. Floods lead to the contamination of freshwater, which increases the risk of waterborne disease in a person. It also helps create breeding grounds for insects and mosquitos. 

Change In The Infection Pattern

Adverse climatic conditions lead to the rise in waterborne disease. It also increases the risk of infections in a person’s body, transmitted through insects, mosquitos, snails and cold-blooded animals, etc. 

Climate change can also lead to the lengthening of the transmission season of various vector home diseases. Diseases like malaria and dengue are strongly influenced by climate change. Anopheles mosquitoes are transmitting these diseases. Malaria alone kills about four lakh people every year in the world. Many children under the age of 5 years die every year due to malaria and dengue in certain African regions. 

The Aedes mosquito is responsible for dengue which is highly sensitive in the flood season. 

Severe Storms

When the air gets warm, it holds more water, and with the rise of temperature, evaporation of the surface gets higher. It leads to an increase in the severity of the rains. It results in the urge of storms and the intensity and the frequency of hurricanes. Hurricanes can cause severe damage to life and property, leading to great devastation in a particular area. 

Conclusion

Every individual is affected by climate change, but some seem to be more vulnerable to climate change due to their geographical location and other various factors. People living in small islands and other coastal regions, mountains, big cities, and polar regions are more vulnerable to climate change. 

Children living in developing countries are more adversely affected by the health-related adversities due to climatic conditions. Also, certain areas with weak infrastructure have a greater risk of getting damaged due to heavy rain and storms.