Research Paper on Global Warming and its Impact on our Health

Introduction

Global warming is the increase in the average temperatures of the earth's ecosystem where the temperatures are supposed to increase from 0.3 to 1.7 degrees Celsius in the lowest scenario and the 2.6 to 4.8 degrees in the highest situation. Global warming tends to be caused by both the human and the natural factors like the greenhouse gases, the industrial revolution, volcanic eruption, the rising of the sea levels and the alterations in precipitations. The change in climate affects the environmental and social determinants of health such as secure weather, safe drinking water, and the clean air. The developing countries are likely not to cope and respond to the impact created by climate change. Global warming poses a risk to the health of people, and it might lead to an increase in the mortality rate among the population. Due to the continuous rise in the rate of global warming in most countries, this paper will focus on the impact which global warming poses to the health of people.

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The changes in temperature in the earth's atmosphere lead to hotter days and the extended heat waves. The heat waves might lead to an increase in the mortality rate thus making people adopt the use of air conditioning implements. The exposure to the extreme heat leads to dehydration, heat stroke, respiratory, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disorders. The high temperatures affect the individuals present in the northern latitudes where it is challenging to cope with the excessive temperatures. Some individuals are vulnerable to the extreme temperatures such as the student-athletes, homeless individuals and the outdoor workers who spend most of their time carrying out the outdoor activities (Wu, Lu, Zhou, Chen & Xu, 2016). Also, the pregnant women, young children and those with particular medical conditions are prone to the extreme temperatures since they cannot regulate the body temperatures.

Consequently, global warming affects the air quality leading to asthma and other cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. The wildfires which are caused by global warming lead to air pollution which affects air quality. The increase in the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere causes the rising of the airborne allergens which affects peoples' health due to the allergic reactions. The ground-level ozone damages the peoples' lung tissues thus reducing the lung function through inflammation of the airways (Shindell, Lee & Faluvegi, 2016). The ground ozone is caused by the warm and stagnant air which is increases the formation of the ozone thus increasing the rate of poor air quality.

The climate change resulting in global warming has contributed to the alteration of particulate matter which is suspended in the atmosphere. For example, the small particles which are less than 2.5 micrometers such as wildfire smoke, dust are emitted directly or suspended in the atmosphere leading to air pollution. The people who inhale these particles are affected by adverse health conditions such as cardiovascular disease, lung cancer, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The particulate matter is blown and carried by wind to other places thus affecting individuals who are not close to the polluted areas. The elderly in the society tend to be at risk of being affected by the particulate matter leading to hospitalization and death (Wu et al., 2016). Therefore, to remove the particulate matter which is suspended in the atmosphere, there has to be rainfall which has to increase in quantity.

The vector-borne diseases tend to increase due to the change in climate which leads to global warming. The vectors such as fleas, mosquitoes, and ticks carry the disease-causing agents like protozoa, bacteria, and viruses which affects both humans and animals. The alteration of precipitation, temperature, and other extreme events lead to the rise in the spread of disease by these agents. For example, mosquitos thrive well during the extreme weather conditions thus increasing the transmission of West Nile virus. Also, ticks which transmit the Lyme disease to animals tend to be active during the earlier days of the season thus increasing their range to the northwards whenever the temperatures are rising. Individuals who are affected by this disease experience fatigue, fever, skin rashes and headache (Hashim & Hashim, 2016). The spread of the climate-sensitive diseases depends on the non-climatic and climatic factors such as access to medical care, land use, cultural and socioeconomic conditions, and pest control. Therefore, global warming tends to affect these factors thus leading to transmission of the causal agents which transmit diseases.

Moreover, due to global warming, there tends to be the development of high temperatures which increases the rate of evaporation in the water bodies leading to heavy rainfall. Through evaporation, the amount of water reduces in the waterbodies leading to the water shortage that is utilized by people. Also, after the fall of the frequent heavy rains, there is water runoff which affects the water quality. Some of the things carried by water create an impact on the people's health hence causing diseases and effects to the respiratory and nervous system. Individuals who consume water with various contaminants get gastrointestinal illnesses such as diarrhea-causing body dehydration. The climate impacts which are hastened by the human activities in the ecosystem lead to the exposure of the waterborne pathogens that create a negative effect on people (Hashim & Hashim, 2016). Flooding and water runoff which is caused by an increased rate in precipitation level and storms contaminates the waterbodies which are used by people for recreation, and they provide water for the drinking. Due to global warming, the environmental agencies provide the public with the health safeguards which minimizes the risk of being exposed to the illnesses which are contributed by contamination of water.

Global warming tends to affect nutrition and food safety among the population. The extreme temperature in the ecosystem affects the production of food crops in the society hence affecting food distribution. Also, rise in the air temperatures increases the multiplication of salmonella and different bacteria related to food poisoning since they grow and multiply drastically in the warm environments. Salmonella and food poisoning cause the gastrointestinal distress thus making people practice safeguarding their food despite the change in climate (Watts et al., 2015). Besides, the rise in the concentration of the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere acts as a fertilizer to particular plants hence lowering the essential minerals and proteins in some food crops. This affects the amount of nutrient in these foods making people suffer from malnutrition.

According to Shindell (et al., 2012), climate change affects a particular group of people who are vulnerable to extreme changes in the climatic and weather conditions. Vulnerability to climate change among these people is determined by the rate of sensitivity, adaptive capacity, and exposure. Exposure is the way these groups of people remain in contact with the stressor while sensitivity is how an individual tends to be affected by these stressors such as extreme temperatures. For example, children are usually vulnerable to various health risks since they experience biological sensitivities which tend to affect their skin. Also, individuals who are prescribed to some drugs tend to be sensitive to the extreme temperatures since they cannot regulate their body temperatures thus becoming reliant to specific medical implements. Individuals who have albinism disorder are affected by the increased temperatures since they do not have enough melanin in their bodies. Due to drought and flooding, there is a limited production of food in the affected countries which makes them experience famine and malnutrition among their population.

Conclusion

Due to the diverse impacts which are contributed by global warming in the health of people, there is a lot which can be done to help in the preparation and adaptation to the climatic changes. This will help minimize the mortality rate among the affected individuals and reduce the effect which is facilitated by global warming in the lives of people. The government and the non-governmental organizations can establish the warning systems which control the heat waves thus minimizing the vulnerability to the affected population. Infrastructure can be improved thus preventing the risk which might be caused by the change in the climatic and weather conditions. Therefore, creating awareness and making people understand the threats which are posed by global warming in their health will help in uniting so that they can minimize the risk and be prepared for the future climatic changes.

References

Hashim, J. H., & Hashim, Z. (2016). Climate change, extreme weather events, and human health implications in the Asia Pacific region. Asia Pacific Journal of Public Health, 28(2_suppl), 8S-14S. Retrieved from https://19january2017snapshot.epa.gov/climate-impacts/climate-impacts-human-health_.html

Shindell, D. T., Lee, Y., & Faluvegi, G. (2016). Climate and health impacts of US emissions reductions consistent with 2 C. Nature Climate Change, 6(5), 503. Retrieved from https://pubs.giss.nasa.gov/abs/sh05700x.html

Shindell, D., Kuylenstierna, J. C., Vignati, E., van Dingenen, R., Amann, M., Klimont, Z. & Schwartz, J. (2012). Simultaneously mitigating near-term climate change and improving human health and food security. Science, 335(6065), 183-189. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22246768

Watts, N., Adger, W. N., Agnolucci, P., Blackstock, J., Byass, P., Cai, W., & Cox, P. M. (2015). Health and climate change: policy responses to protect public health. The Lancet, 386(10006), 1861-1914. Retrieved from https://www.co.thurston.wa.us/health/thrives/pdfs/healthclimatechangepolicy.pdf

Wu, X., Lu, Y., Zhou, S., Chen, L., & Xu, B. (2016). Impact of climate change on human infectious diseases: Empirical evidence and human adaptation. Environment international, 86, 14-23. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26479830