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by Laurel Hopwood, NEO Human Health & Environment
Chair
Experts recently reported at an American Public Health Association meeting
that as the earth heats up, it's expected that more climate related
diseases will ensue. "Climate change is one of the most serious
public health threats facing our nation," said Dr. Georges Benjamin,
the association's executive director.
Congressional representatives are recognizing the interconnectedness,
too. Representative Edward Markey, Chairman of the House Select
Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, has connected
the dots. He
has no doubt that climate change is affecting human health. "It
leads to the migration of animals, who are bearing disease, and
brings them close to population areas that they otherwise had not
been exposed
to."
As temperatures rise, disease carrying mosquitoes will
spread, infecting people in their wake. According to the World Health
Organization,
a billion people will be at risk from dengue fever within 80 years.
Dengue feaver and malaria are examples of debilitating and life-threatening
mosquito-bearing
diseases that will rise as temperatures rise.
Here in Ohio, it's expected that we’ll see more La Crosse
encephalitis. This virus is spread by the Eastern treehole mosquito,
which often makes its home in holes in hardwood trees in addition to old
tires
and other receptacles for rainwater. Fortunately, the disease has
a low fatality rate. Lyme disease is another vector-borne illness that’s
thriving more in a warmer climate.
Climatic changes could lead to more outbreaks of bubonic plague,
as reported by the BBC. The disease is becoming more widespread
among rodent populations, which serve as hosts for the fleas that
transmit the
plague bacteria. Fleas became active when the temperature exceeds
50 degrees Fahrenheit, so warm springs lead to early breeding.
Another pathogen has jumped its traditional boundaries and has
begun what some fear is a march around the globe. This time the
invader is a virus that causes chikungunya, a crippling and painful
disease which
until now was not found in North America. A single mutation enabled
the new virus to infect the Asian tiger mosquito and medical entomologists
worry that the disease will proliferate even more.
Since flooding can lead to untreated bacterial discharge getting
into sources of drinking water, more people will suffer with cholera,
a diarrheal disease.
Unfortunately, infectious diseases aren’t the only concern. Heat
waves in U.S. cities may double by 2050, prompting more sickness from
dehydration and heat stroke. Water supplies will also become an increasingly
serious concern, as more of the world’s land area are suffering
from drought.
Climate change is expected to have a negative effect on food production,
leading to malnutrition and starvation. Developing countries will
suffer the most, as subsistence agriculture will suffer. Livestock
offers a livelihood
for many in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Yet rift valley fever,
a deadly virus transmitted from mosquito bites to sheep, cattle
and camels, is being fueled by climate change.
Scientists claim that ozone related deaths from a warming planet
will significantly increase, turning this health risk into a substantial
one. Ground level ozone, also known as smog, can affect people
with breathing problems such as asthma.
Locked in ice for millions of years, Antarctic bacteria are thawing
and they're alive. Some researchers wonder if a prehistoric plague
may be in the making, but they don't expect a global pandemic.
Whether it's disease carrying mosquitoes or fleas, food depletion
or drought, or even ancient prehistoric plagues, climate change
as public health issue cannot be overlooked.
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