Global Climate Change and Possible Health Consequences

Global climate change has been a highly controversial political subject. In the USA, President Bush’s administration tried vehemently to disprove or downplay the link between the link between greenhouse gas emissions and global climate change (Revkin, 2005). Nonetheless, the Bush administration eventually accepted that climate change is present and policy must be changed in order to mitigate the effects of climate change. Globally, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has been advocating global policy changes to intervene before adverse climate change affects vital human activities like farming and fishing.

The IPCC has stated that global emissions of carbon dioxide are increasing and if this trend continues into the foreseeable future, then global mean surface temperature will rise by 1.4oC to 5.8oC in the next 100 years (WHO, 2005). What does this all mean for humans? First, an increase of this magnitude will cause disruption in weather patterns thus affecting farming cycles and creating devastating floods. Second, in addition to disruption of these farming cycles that will inevitably cause famine, the weather changes will cause mass displacement of populations. Third, disease prevalence will increase on populations where certain diseases were not present due to catastrophic weather like hurricanes and flooding.

Farming is heavily dependent on the weather patterns and their predictability. Once these patterns are disrupted, whole crops can be decimated within months causing severe hardships on those who can least afford them. Lack of adequate local farming will most likely result in malnutrition and under-nutrition if not outright starvation. Malnutrition can have far reaching consequences for people of a country. In most cases, children afflicted with malnutrition do not die but they have severe health effects. They suffer immensely. They grow up stunted and extremely weak in a nation that primarily uses manual labor.

The lack of essential nutrients eventually becomes a barrier to improving their lives and a burden on global society. Many will not have a basic education that enables them to understand how to lead a healthy life. Many will be too weak to fight off infections and to adapt to a new land if they are forced to move due to lack of rainfall. This lack of immunity from basic infections can create epidemics in countries not prepared to handle crises of this magnitude.

As public health officials, we will have to understand not only what types of supplies to distribute but also how this burden will alter the host nation of the displace population. Different NGOs like the United Nations World Food Program, UNICEF and the International Red Cross will have to partner with the affected governments in order to supply nutrient rich food to the displaced populace. Many African countries have already taken this approach by adding vital nutrients to essential food products like flour and cooking oil. By advocating the expansion of these programs, the nations most likely to be affected by climate change will be well prepared to address the imminent problems by having the necessary knowledge to help manage the implementation and expansion of these programs.

The widespread disruption of dependable weather patterns can also lead to dispersion of affected populations from severely affected areas to more moderate neighboring countries. By fleeing drought-stricken areas, people will move their way into other countries thought to be more prosperous (i.e. more rainfall, fertile farmlands). This forces a burden on the host country, as they will most likely be unable to address the health and economical needs of these incoming people.

Climate change resulting in higher temperatures will inevitably cause people who live in coastal areas to move inland due to rising sea levels. With so much of the world’s manufacturing and trade based near the oceans, rising temperatures will cause catastrophic financial losses and massive economic reorganization inward away from rising sea levels. The rising sea levels can cause increased wetlands and marshlands leading to new insect breeding grounds in an otherwise insect-free area.

Changing weather patterns will not only have the possibility of disrupting vital farming and creating mass displacement of population, it can introduce new insects and pests to otherwise unaffected farmlands and regions. This is further aggravated by ever increasing temperatures and population shifts.

Vector-borne diseases can be spread to areas otherwise acknowledged as disease-free. It was found that increases in temperature in the United States could vastly expand the breeding grounds of mosquitoes that carry dengue and yellow fever (Breslin, 1994). Whereas a majority of these disease-carrying insects die in freezing temperature, the resultant rise in temperature can furthermore expand the mosquitoes’ activity. Public health officials must be able to divert vital resources to vector eradication or at the very least, vector containment.

Another important climate change health issue that would need to be addressed is the increased prevalence of heat waves. As recently as 2003, a scorching heat wave in Western Europe proved to be deadly resulting in almost 15000 deaths. Most vulnerable were the elderly who in nursing homes that lacked air conditioning. Crops were also destroyed because of the lack of rainfall.

As is widely known, the planet is interconnected. When changes occur in one part of the world, it can sometimes negatively affect other parts. It is important to create a unified policy approach to mitigating the effects of climate change. It will take a lot of effort but the consequences of inaction are even more disastrous.






References

Breslin, K. Global Climate Change: Beyond Sunburn. Environmental Health Perspectives Volume 102, Number 5, May 1994.

McMichael A.J., Woodruff R.E., and Hales S. Climate change and human health: present and future risks. www.thelancet.com. Vol 367. March 11, 2006.

Revkin, Andrew C., Bush Aide Softened Greenhouse Gas Links to Global Warming. Published June 8, 2005. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/08/politics/08climate.html?_r=1&oref=login&pagewanted=print. Retrieved February 22, 2009.

Royal Society of Chemistry. The Impact of Climate Change. http://www.rsc.org/Library/Researchers/Digests/ClimateChange/Impacts.asp. Retrieved February 22, 2009.

World Health Organization. Climate and Health Fact Sheet, July 2005. www.who.int/globalchange/news/fsclimandhealth/en/print.html. Retrieved February 22, 2009.