Climate Change and Human Health
Global climate change is occurring at an unprecedented rate, and sound science indicates that human activity is responsible. The effects of global climate change include increased average temperatures, rising sea levels, increasing air pollution, the spread of infectious disease, increased food and water-borne disease, and an increase in frequency and severity of natural disasters. These events are projected to have profound effects on human health. Populations that are already vulnerable to death and disease will be most affected, including children, the elderly, and low-income and minority communities.
Below is a list of potential impacts of climactic changes on human health.
|
Environmental Hazard |
Impact on Human Health |
|
Higher temperatures and UV radiation |
Increase in heat exhaustion, heat strokes, cardiovascular and respiratory problems, and skin cancer from ultraviolet radiation |
|
Sea level rise, floods, droughts, and wildfires |
Drowning, contaminated food and water, malnutrition, dehydration, eye and respiratory disease, and mental illness |
|
Increasing air pollution and aeroallergens |
Asthma, nasal and eye irritation, coughs, bronchitis, and respiratory infections |
|
Loss of biodiversity, changes to temperature, humidity, and rainfall |
Increase in vector-borne diseases including malaria, dengue fever, West Nile virus, Rift Valley fever, Chikungunya fever, Lyme disease, and encephalitis |
|
Increasing temperature and heavy rains |
Increase in outbreaks of food and water-borne diseases including infectious diarrhea, Cryptosporidium, Giardia, Salmonella, E. coli, and rotavirus |
|
Resource scarcity and population growth |
Malnutrition, water scarcity, mass human migration that can result in war, political instability, poverty, and mental illness |
Understanding Environmental Change and Human Health
(Source: http://www.who.int/globalchange/climate/en/)
Climate change is related to desertification and land degradation, freshwater decline, biodiversity loss and ecosystem function, and stratospheric ozone depletion. Through multiple and diverse pathways, these global environmental hazards lead to the human heath impacts listed in the table above.
Fact Sheet: Climate Change and Human Health (pdf)
Earth Gauge Fact Sheet: Climate and Public Health (pdf)
