Climate Impacts Health

Climate Change and Health

This image from the CDC, shows the different ways that climate change can impact human health. As you can see, some of these are direct impacts ( such heat related illnesses) and others indirect (increased temperatures leading to more disease organisms) 

Temperature Extremes 

Heat waves increase the risk of heat stroke but also increase complications form cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease. Extreme summer heat is increasing and will become more frequent and intense. 

Wildfires

We will spend a week on fire ecology, but in for the purpose of this week, wildfire smoke is very dangerous due to the particulate matter (small ash), carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and other volatile organic compounds (VOCs). 

Air Pollution 

Higher temperatures lead to the production of  ground level ozone. Wildfires  and fossil fuel consumption create particulate matter. Both are very damaging to lung functions, leading to more problems with asthma, hospitalization and death. 

Vector Borne Diseases

Fleas, ticks, mosquitos all can spread disease.  Climate change leads to the spread of these insects into more parts of North America, bringing with them  West Nile virus disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, plague, and tularemia. 

Water Related Illness and Death 

Disease organisms that cause diarrhea do better when there are higher temperatures, and more extreme rainfall patterns ( both too little and too much ). These types of pathogens spread through water and are particularly dangerous to vulnerable individuals such as infants.  

Mental Health

Extreme weather and natural disasters, such as hurricanes, wildfires  and floods, make existing mental health conditions worse, but also generate anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and depression

Vulnerable Populations

While everyone will experience these problems, some will feel them more than others

Climate Change  Forced Migration and Civil Conflict

The World Bank estimates that Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, and Southeast Asia will generate 143 million more climate migrants by 2050. ^[3]  It is hard to estimate how many of the  68.5 million people forcibly displaced in 2017 were climate refugees,  approximately one-third of these (22.5 million^[4] to 24 million^[5] people) were forced to move by weather events—flooding, forest fires after droughts, and intensified storms. And these events are increasing due to climate change, which is often called a ''threat multiplier'' since it takes existing problems and makes them worse. 

Causes of climate induced migration

• • large-scale human migration due to resource scarcity, increased frequency of extreme weather events, and other factors, particularly in the developing countries in the earth’s low latitudinal band
  • Intensifying intra- and inter-state competition for food, water, and other resources, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa
  • Increased frequency and severity of disease outbreaks
  • Increased U.S. border stress due to the severe effects of climate change in parts of Central America

Climate Change and Disproportionate Impacts

One key takeaway from this module is that the impacts of climate change are disproportionately born by those already most vulnerable.  This is true within the United States and when you scale out globally.  The top image below shows the per capita carbon dioxide emissions of each country, color-coded.  The bottom image shows each country's vulnerability to climate change.  Generally, those people who have contributed least to the problem stand to bear the worst of the impacts.

Accessible text of top image shows the CO2 emissions per capita of each country.docx 

3Kumari Rigaud, Kanta, Alex de Sherbinin, Bryan Jones, Jonas Bergmann, Viviane Clement, Kayly Ober, Jacob Schewe, Susana Adamo, Brent McCusker, Silke Heuser, and Amelia Midgley. 2018. Groundswell: Preparing for Internal Climate Migration. The World Bank. Pg 2. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/29461

4McDonnell, Tim. “The Refugees the World Barely Pays Attention To.” June 20, 2018. https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2018/06/20/621782275/the-refugees-that-the-world-barely-pays-attention-to.

5The Nansen Initiative. “Disaster-Induced Cross-Border Displacement.” December 2015. Page 6. https://nanseninitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/PROTECTION-AGENDA-VOLUME-1.pdf