Over the last 50 years, many human activities have released sufficient quantities of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases to trap additional heat in the lower atmosphere and affect the global climate. As a result, the world has warmed by approximately 0.85oC in the last 130 years. Each of the last 3 decades has been successively warmer than any preceding decade since 1850.
Indeed, climate change is dubbed as the ‘most defining issue of our time’ by the United Nations. As a matter of fact, it has no longer remained merely as an issue but a crisis that threatens the livelihood of humankind. As Secretary-General António Guterres pointed out in September 2019, “the climate emergency is a race we are losing, but it is a race we can win”.
Huh? What does climate change have to do with my health?
The negative impacts of climate change encompass many aspects of our lives, including the overall health of people. Although global warming may bring some benefits, such as fewer winter deaths in temperate climates and increased food production in certain areas, the overall health effects of a changing climate are overwhelmingly negative.
While some of these effects may be observed directly, many of the negative effects of climate change on human’s health are subtle. To name a few, climate changes affect your health via aspects such as clean air, safe drinking water, sufficient food and secure shelter.
In other words, if you are a health-conscious person, you should care about climate change.
Asthma, respiratory allergies and airway diseases
Climate change and air pollution go hand in hand. In polluted air there may be various fine particles, antigens and pollutants that are harmful to people’s airways. Some of these pollutants can directly cause respiratory disease or exacerbate existing conditions in vulnerable populations, such as children or the elderly. China is one of the countries which is notorious for its poor air quality, especially in major cities. A study carried out in China evaluated 3,106 children with asthma and found out that short-term exposure of polluted air indeed worsened their asthma.
Malaysia is no stranger to air pollution, as we experience man-made haze season annually. While transboundary haze is a complex issue that requires diplomatic measures, as regular folks we ought to protect ourselves against polluted air by wearing N95 masks when going out or simply just minimising outdoor activities.
Cancer
Air pollution also contributes to the occurrence of lung cancer and bladder cancer. That is because outdoor air pollution is a rich source of carcinogens, i.e. cancer-causing substances. These substances consist of particulate matters which are made up of dust, smoke and chemicals. Transportation, stationary power generation, industrial and agricultural emissions, and residential heating and cooking contribute to these polluted air.
The most recent data from the Global Burden of Disease Project indicate that in 2010, 3.2 million deaths worldwide resulted from air pollution, including 223,000 from lung cancer. What is even scarier is that 95% of the world population are exposed to mean concentrations of particulate matter which exceed the WHO recommended limit of 10 micrograms per cubic meter, and it is usually the people in low-to-middle income countries (like Malaysia) that has the highest exposure.
Infectious diseases
As the world is still experiencing one of the greatest human pandemic in recent decades, many vector-borne and zoonotic diseases (VBZD) are looming around the corner, all thanks to climate change. VBZD are infectious diseases whose transmission involves animal hosts or vectors. Vector-borne diseases, such as dengue, are those in which an organism, typically an insect carries a pathogen from one host to another. Zoonotic disease refers to pathogens in animals that cross the animal-human divide to infect humans, examples include avian flu (H5N1) and swine flu (H1N1). While these diseases are often limited in temperate countries, climate change is about to change that.
As temperatures increase, vectors can spread into new areas that were previously too cold. For example, two mosquito vectors that carry malaria are now found at the U.S.-Mexico border. Increase in temperature also may increase the population of vectors where they normally live. Deforestation and destroying the natural habitat lead to decline in biodiversity, which can affect predator-prey relationships. The reduction in predators may lead to increase in prey population, which they later become vectors that bring about the infectious diseases.
Care about climate change = care about your own health
We certainly do not cover all health impacts of climate change in this article, however the verdict still stands: the negative impacts of climate change is widespread, and the most vulnerable population are harmed by it. Let us recognise that climate change is no longer an environmental issue but a public health issue.
Here are some of the valuable reading resources on this topic:
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https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/climate-change-is-having-widespread-health-impacts/
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https://www.niehs.nih.gov/research/programs/geh/climatechange/health_impacts/index.cfm
