Climate Change as a Global Public Health Issue

Abstract

Public Health is an issue in itself. Mixing climate change in the equation is the real issue. Climate change is a global issue and it cannot be tackled locally. This is something we must unite for internationally. Enough research has been done to demonstrate the role climate change plays in the population’s health. Fossil fuel resources are not indispensable, they will seize from existence due to how much we overuse it. The results of our carelessness will kill us in the long run. All the carbon dioxide in the air is causing global warming which results to heatwaves which leads to heat strokes and death or illness as stated (Change, G. C, 1997). The more the planet warms up by the process of global warming, the easier air-borne diseases survive. Air-borne diseases are bound to live in warmer climates this all leads to bigger international issues. Insects can carry this diseases which increases risk since it’s by skin contact. Allergies occur worse and worse each year, though may seem minor, it can expand. Pollution is a very strong issue in today’s society. All of us pollute this planet by doing daily tasks such as driving a car. By burning fuel for electricity and other companies, we are discharging a great deal of carbon dioxide and causing climate change. Using the concept of sustainability surrounding its codes will prevent even more permanent damage. The importance of teaching and helping others understand the processes and change is high. By reducing the contamination of carbon dioxide, this might allow its environment to thrive. It’s important to find a way to solve the issue indefinitely.

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Climate change is what the word itself describes. The change of the weather conditions that happen over a certain time but what is usually not defined in any textbook or search engine is the effects. Public Health and its goal are to avoid diseases, improve the population’s health, and helping people live longer. This is an international issue that is affecting our neighborhood rapidly. The question here is why aren’t health professional ’s taking action if it’s a known threat? What should they do to solve the condition we’re in? Depending on our situations recently, its imperative that the correct steps be taken to solve this problem. Climate change has taken a toll on its population’s health and everything accomplished to this point with science and technology may seize to exist. Around the world, the warmer temperature is creating and complicating a whole host of health challenges, many of which have been all too obvious these past few years. The scientific community is probably in agreement that the climate is changing and the contributions from its population are what is speeding up the process Opinions expressed don’t necessarily reflect the views of editors in magazines such as TIME.

Certain health effects can be minimized or avoided with change and strategy big enough to make a difference. Climate change had been classified as one of biggest threats to the population’s health, the evidence being floods, droughts, and more air-borne diseases, which will keep and has rolled over year by year. In the end, these extremities have even brought death. Drastic weather conditions leading to natural disasters in countries like Puerto Rico which has been the latest one. Air, water, and soil pollution have become the main cause of death of many. At this rate, numbers will keep growing as the world’s climate keeps shifting. Climate Change has become more man-made than natural and now because of it, we are at risk. Only we can put an end to this madness.

The scenarios that can occur due to climate change are many when it comes to the public’s health. Food production, this effect can pretty much affect humanity as well know it can cause mass extinction. In countries like Haiti, DR, Cuba, PR, and many other islands this could cause the instantaneous extinction of the population due to their low resources as it is, the same applies for the other reasons listed below. Escalating prices, this could happen because of how scarce well-harvested food will be to obtain. Mass starvation, another effect that could occur due to the lessen population of animals and food production as well as damaged goods. The disintegration of the polar ice sheets, this would affect us horribly because it would raise sea levels, even more, bringing us to tsunami leading to a state of emergency and immediate evacuation of citizens in major cities especially islands which will have no chance to escape. Unbreathable air, we need oxygen to survive but the reality is the concentration of CO2 is the obstacle. High levels of it can kill us. People die because of wildlife smoke, fossil-fuel smoke, and pollution as a whole. This issue could potentially be shortening our lives. As the planet gets warmer, the more ozone that form (Wallace D., 2017, p.70).

Many ask, what does climate change have to do with the extinction of humanity? A huge factor is an air being polluted. As I previously stated, there are traces of fossil fuel smoke, wildlife smoke, and carbon dioxide in our environment that has killed 10,000 or more in just one year and that’s only the beginning. As global temperature rise, this causes our resources to become questionable and eventually limited which will cause a constraint towards our survival.

Science has existed for over hundreds of years and that evolution has brought processes such as fossil fuels burning of coal and oil. All of these factors bring change in the world’s temperature. The process of climate change usually occurs from a list of things as noted, most being from humans. All this including global warming which is when land warms up which causes higher levels of emissions such as greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gases are gases that retain heat in the air. These gases can be water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone. (Frumkin et, 2008). There are over a dozen diseases that are spreading because of this matter.

Now, the best way to avoid the increased issue would be prevention. Clinics can help towards immunizations, helping people stop smoking, find smoking alternatives, and use helmets on motorcycles or bicycles. Another way for prevention is to control the advancements of diseases by hypertension screening, cancer, and hyperlipidemia. Some of the following equivalences to help would correspond to mitigation or adaptation and slow or stabilize climate change through cutting on energy and keeping in mind safe choices.

Climate change affects infectious diseases through a host or transmission. Reducing your carbon footprint may not seem that important. An article from Huffington Post stated that a report was put online on the Lancet page. These couple of years we have noticed an obvious change in the temperature but not really the consequences of it. The pattern followed the growth of diseases as well. The hotter it gets outside the more insects remain around since that’s their preferred environment and they help spread air-borne diseases.

In many South American countries, there is this mosquito that spreads Dengue which is a virus that comes with symptoms such as fever, vomiting, rashes and worse things like death in children. This virus has spread more and easier than before because of the conditions. In the world, it has increased to 11.1 percent since the 50s. Another common virus at one time was the Nile virus and transmitted also by mosquitos.

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Now many other diseases such as kidney stones happen because of warmer climates. After a hot day walking around, it’s normal that your body will need water. Once your body goes into the process of dehydration then kidney stones can happen. According to the health records at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, it is thought that the temperature contributed to the kidney stones since over 60,000 weather archives were noted to coincide (Kopman J, Hauser A, 2014). The whole pattern that is going on evidently proves that as the climate is changing so are the kidney stone and many other health reports.

Many people know about malaria. The epidemic grew as much as the rate of dengue at one point. Even though these cases were reported in Africa, it’s safe to conclude most of the diseases like dengue are vector-borne and once again easier to transmit. Water-borne diseases like cholera occur often in third-world countries due to dirty water.

According to American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology, around 50 million people have some sort of allergies (American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology, n.a.) Allergies are more serious than people think. They are 6th in the list of most long-lasting viruses. It has been stated that even death can be possible due to how the body can react. Plant pollen is a factor that is becoming worse because of the change in the climate (Kaufman A, 2017). Another situation is indoor mold which grows as a threat because mold is formed in humid or warmer weather. The pollen season is lasting longer since it’s a condition that thrives in warmer climates. Allergies in the spring season are the worst and they lost longer the warmer it is as well (Kaufman A., 2017). If the climate keeps on getting warmer bigger problems can arise.

Medicine has been created to prevent the problem (Frumkin, McMichael. 2008). Not many health professionals are responding. Not enough people are afraid or aware and that’s the main concern. Raising awareness in any situation is imperative. In unity there is power. Having all hands on deck on this subject will make the biggest transformation.

Droughts and floods are becoming so common now. This causes lost in harvest and leads to scarcity of basic resources such as food. When people don’t get the enough nutrients or water then can die. As more people get sick, the more difficult it becomes to find people in small villages that are still in decent conditions to work. Those who live near a river in villages start getting sick as well due to the flooding. Sadly, many health centers don’t have enough medical knowledge to treat the mass of people.

According to The Guardian, the same company “Lancet” published a report on the research coming to a conclusion that about 500,000 people will die a year by 2050 since the populations are not healthy as of now. As the rate of death and diseases keep increasing due to heart attacks, heat strokes, food poisoning, malaria, and many other diseases, no one is taking action (McMichael, Woodruff, Hales, 2006). A solution to cholera is to not expose yourself to soiled water until its purified. Food poisoning is easy to get unless you refrigerate and cook your food correctly. Getting medicine on time to treat malaria and another condition is imperative. Antimalarial medicine can reduce and prevent spreading malaria to nearby bigger cities. It’s easy to tackle these problems locally first (Derbyshire, 2006).

References:

• Frumkin, H., & McMichael, A. J. (2008). Climate change and public health. American journal of preventive medicine, 35(5), 403-410.
• Change, G. C. (1997). Climate Change and Public Health. Climate and Health. (2016, October 19). Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/climateandhealth/default.htm
• McMichael, AJ, Woodruff, RE, and Hales, S. Climate change and human health: present and future risks. Lancet. 2006; 367: 859–869
• Biello, D. (2010). What Is Geoengineering and Why Is It Considered a Climate Change Solution? Scientific American, 70-81. Retrieved May 02, 2018.
• Kaufman, A. C. (2017, October 30). Climate Change Is Already A Public Health Crisis, Top Medical Journal Says. Retrieved May 01, 2018, from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/climate-change-lancet-public health_us_59f7676fe4b09b5c2567dd2f
• Climate change and health. Derbyshire S.W.(2006) Lancet, 367 (9527) , pp. 1976.
• Frumkin, H., Hess, J., Luber, G., Malilay, J., & McGeehin, M. (2008). Climate Change: The Public Health Response. American Journal of Public Health, 98(3), 435–445. http://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2007.119362