Protected: New Productivity

Climate change is a global health challenge. When we look at the devastating effects of climate change, it is not just the polar bears that are affected; human health is severely impacted as well. This article examines this through the lens of Prof Jonathan Patz in his insightful TEDx presentation on the subject matter.

Climate change affects our health in many pathways, and each of them have associated health outcomes. Below are 5 direct effects we suffer from climate change related problems.

• Heat waves which result directly in heat stress, and severe and more frequent heat attacks.  Today, many people die from heat waves, especially in urban environments. This is attributed to our warming earth. Heatwaves may impair functionality of hospitals including medical equipment and storage of medicines, noted the research carried out in the UK by Sarah Curtis and others. 
• Air pollution is another direct result of climate change. Air pollution causes respiratory diseases such as COPD and Asthma.
• Infectious diseases, especially vector-borne diseases. A warmer earth gives rise to more insects, including mosquitos. There will be an increase in insects such as Aedes aegypti, which carries yellow fever, Dengue fever and Zika virus.
• Water-borne diseases, leading to Cholera, Cryptosporidiosis and Leptospirosis. Water contamination directly or indirectly impacts our global water bodies.  Water contamination events are already becoming common. This happens when there is a sewage or waster overflow, and the water bypasses sewage treatment mechanism. A combination of hazardous and extreme weather conditions triples the likelihood of such overflows.
• Mental Health and Environmental refugee, which Patz describes as the iceberg hidden in tip of the iceberg. Climate change contributes tremendously to adverse conditions for refugees, including food shortages, poor environmental conditions. Paolo Cianconi et al, concludes that the effects of climate change can be direct or indirect, short-term or long-term.
  

The earth is warming up. Our reliance on energy contributes to this. This impacts the quality and QUANTITY of the food we can produce. Today, over 900 million people are at risk for hunger starvation, and this could double by mid-century.

Yet, it might be quite easier and way much beneficial to fix climate change. According to Patz, there are two key ways we can mitigate climate change:

1. The energy sector. Global emissions from gas flaring, oil drilling and other heavy energy resources contribute to air pollution. Air pollution causes over 7 million premature deaths and costs the world’s economy over $5 trillion each year.

The simple solution: Clean (renewable) Energy

Investing in clean energy can drastically reverse air pollution by replacing it with better options and healthier environment. Solar energy is a great source. Investing in clean/renewable energy will not only fix air pollution, but will generate a massive measurable benefit, including more than triple the jobs.

2. Transportation. Reliance on motorized vehicles leads to over 5 million deaths each year. This dependence contributes to the sedentary lifestyle and physical inactivity of many. These are direct causes of obesity, depression and related health challenges. 60% of Americans do not meet the minimum recommended levels in physical activity. In 2016, obesity rates in the U.S. reached 40% in adults, and more than 600,000 Americans die of heart-related diseases each year.

The simple solution: Better Lifestyles

• Walk where the distance is within 2 miles.
• Use a bike and get more physical for short trips.
• Exercise more.

Recent study found that if these recommendations are met in the Midwest, U.S, at least 1,300 lives, and $8 billion will be saved each year from avoided hospitalization, absenteeism and mortality.

References

Patz, J. (2018, January 10). Climate change is affecting our health. is there a cure? | Jonathan Patz | TEDxOshkosh. YouTube. Retrieved October 28, 2021, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_Dpkn_wi54.

Curtis, S., Fair, A., Wistow, J., Val, D. V., & Oven, K. (2017, December 5). Impact of extreme weather events and climate change for Health and Social Care Systems. Environmental Health. Retrieved October 28, 2021, from https://ehjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12940-017-0324-3.

Cianconi, P., Betrò, S., & Janiri, L. (2020, March 6). The impact of climate change on Mental Health: A Systematic Descriptive Review. Frontiers in Psychiatry. Retrieved October 28, 2021, from https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00074/full.