Global Warming Increases Likelihood of Serious Disease

by Justin Seidel

            For the past few years, Americans have been warned of the possible disastrous effects of global warming such as blistering heat waves, terrible storms, and devastating floods. However, some studies show that global warming could also influence our personal health and well being in a more common way than you may think.

            In addition to health complications related to higher temperature extremes and inclement weather, the risk of contracting diseases is predicted to increase. A study performed by Kristie L. Ebi and others reports that increased precipitation has been shown to add to the amount of pathogenic contaminates that run-off into human water-sources. The same article reports an additional link between higher monthly temperatures and increasing cases of food-contamination. The Population and Development Review anticipates that warmer year-round temperatures will increase the lifespan and migration of pathogenic organisms responsible for a variety of diseases ranging from diarrhea to malaria. The IPCC working group II report has indicated that warmer global climates may extend the habitat boundaries of ticks that carry Lyme disease by the year 2020. The changes in climate may also create alternative strains of these diseases, making it more difficult for the human immune system to cope with these ailments.

Higher carbon dioxide levels could also increase photosynthesis and the number of pollen-producing plants, making life more difficult for victims of airborne allergies and asthma. The death of currently existing crops will also lead to more widespread malnutrition.

            A study from the science journal Nature, which was cited in the IPCC report, explains that the World Health Organization (WHO) has estimated that over 150,000 people have died annually over the last 30 years due to human related climate change. This number includes the number of people who have died from heat-related deaths as well as infections and malnutrition. Based on computer model known as the Hadley Centre global climate model, the WHO has projected that this death toll is on course to double by the year 2030. Although, these climate models may not always be the most accurate, and some models contain gaps in the data, the WHO’s projection is startling.

            The situation is far from hopeless however. Luis Cifuentes and others have proposed that quality of world health can improve by mitigating the levels of greenhouse gases produced by humans. By compiling the number of medical cases in four major cities in the Western Hemisphere, namely Mexico City, Sao Paulo, Santiago, and New York City, the researchers where able to calculate the changing number of medical cases over 20 years or so.  The researchers than used projected greenhouse gas emissions from each of these cities and estimated how health problems would increase. They then created a scenario in which emissions where reduced from 2001 to 2020. If emissions are reduced immediately, Cifuentes predicts that 61,000 premature deaths will be prevented and 65,000 cases of chronic bronchitis will be avoided.

            Students should be urged to listen to the warnings and recommendations of the IPCC findings. All of us are responsible for our own health and for the health of our future children. Even if one does not believe that the ice caps will melt or that rising sea levels will obliterate our coastal cities, one should still fear for his or her own health. It is not too late for our generation to minimize the amount of greenhouse gases we produce. Our generation has a responsibility to prevent the spread of deadly diseases so that the next generation does not have to suffer from our mistakes.