Here Are Increased Health Risks Due To Worsening Climate Change

Climate change is a global issue that is urgently needed to be addressed carefully and with haste due to its major impact on the environment and our health.

According to the National Institute of Environmental Sciences, environmental consequences of climate change, which include extreme heat waves, rising sea levels, changes in precipitation resulting in flooding and droughts, intense hurricanes and degraded air quality, can directly or indirectly affect the physical, social and mental health of humans.

The World Health Organization expects an approximately 250,000 additional deaths per year between 2030 and 2050. These fatalities could be caused by malnutrition, malaria, diarrhea and heat stress due to climate change.

In a fact sheet recently released by White House, more than 100 experts from eight different federal agencies--including the Environmental Protection Agency, NASA, and U.S. Geological Survey, among others--conducted a peer-review study enumerating possible increased health risks caused by climate change.

Here are some of the health risks elevated by climate change.

1. Allergy, Asthma, and Other Respiratory Illnesses

According to the study by the Obama administration, there would be an increase in asthma episodes and other adverse respiratory illness, especially in children, due to the increase of air pollution and airborne allergen.

The study also states that pollen seasons are longer--affecting more than 6.8 million children with immature respiratory and immune systems.

2. Heat Stroke and Other Heat-Related Illnesses

 Fox News reported that 670 to 1,300 deaths in the U.S. annually can be attributed to heat waves.

 Experts projected that deaths caused by heat waves can increase by 11,000 in 2030 and 27,000 in 2100.

3. Vector-Borne Diseases

According to the Climate and Health Assessment of U.S. Global Change Research Program, transmission and infection patterns of vector-borne diseases can be significantly influenced by climate change.

Vector-borne diseases are infectious diseases that transmitted by an animal host. Most common types of animals to transmit diseases are ticks, insects and mites.

 The Natural Resource Defense Council reported that long warm-weather seasons and differing rainfall patterns allow animals that transmit vector-borne diseases to thrive and live longer.

4. Water-Related Illnesses

Frequent and intense precipitation events can increase the risk of compromising recreational waters, shellfish harvesting waters and sources of drinking water with pathogens and toxic algae that can cause illnesses, according to U.S. Global Change Research Program.

5. Food Scarcity and Poisoning

Climate change can greatly impact the production and availability of food.

The possibility of food contamination is also high due to the changes in climate and physical environment brought by climate change.

Researchers also revealed that higher concentration of carbon dioxide in the air can stimulate the growth of plants, but will also result in loss of protein and essential minerals in a number of widely consumed crops, including wheat, rice, and potatoes, said the White House.

It can even affect your beloved beer.