Many people seem to believe that climate change only affects the environment, but in reality, global warming is bad for people’s health too.
Also, it can be argued that the effect that climate change will have on individuals will vary from one person to another. Characteristics such as age, geography, socioeconomic status and gender will have to be taken into account in order to understand how global warming may affect individuals.
If the Climate Changes so Will the Food
Climate change goes beyond the increase of temperature, gas emissions, or even floods or droughts. In fact, climate change has deeper consequences in the long rung. For example, major factors such as freshwater availability or the capability of having a food production are direct consequences of global warming, and, in turn, these environmental problems can affect human health in various ways.
Communities who have been dependant on producing a single type of crops can find themselves in the risk of losing all of their crop fields if the necessary rain won’t come soon enough, or if there are floodings in their area. And in many ways, these complications have already set in in some countries, specifically in those places where it seems like governments are very vulnerable and cannot do much to alleviate the situation they find themselves in.
It can also be argued that the production of food has a direct impact on the environment, not only through the use of water but also through the greenhouse gas emission that is needed in order to produce food.
As a result, environment defenders are often trying to encourage the rest of the world to stop eating meat and dairy, even if it’s not done completely, people are begged to reduce their intake of these foods for a day or two a week – at least. This is because in order to produce the meat and dairy a lot of effort must be made on the agricultural production of them, which in turn, will cost the health of the environment.
As a matter of fact, it has been claimed that livestock is responsible for at least a 20% of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions, which is a very high percentage that even surpasses the greenhouse gas emissions that are emitted by the transport sector. What’s more, at least 40% of grains are cultivated in order to be able to feed that same livestock. So you only have the remaining percentage of grains to feed humans worldwide. The more consumption of meat definitely means more gas emissions will be released into the atmosphere.
Also, if people changed their dietary habits and instead of eating so much meat they would eat more vegetables, then not only will they be able to reduce the number of gas emissions that are emitted but they will also improve their overall health and fitness. An environmentally-friendly diet is possible if individuals are given the right information and are educated about the choices they make.
Disease-carrying Mosquitoes Will Be Everywhere
If climate change continues to happen then we are at a greater risk of having disease-carrying mosquitoes everywhere in the world, not on the most vulnerable areas such as hot and humid climates.
Environmental disturbances have a direct correlation with how mosquitoes distribute themselves in the world, while also affecting how quickly viruses spread around and become contagious. This is why over the past couple of years there have been outbreaks of viruses such as zika or dengue.
Physical Problems are Bound to Happen
If global warming continues at this rate then droughts, floods and many other environmental problems are also going to occur. What’s more, they will become more frequent and more intense than ever before.
They will also be linked to physical injuries such as respiratory problems, and to some people, these health issues will be so catastrophic that it can mean death to them.
Health Problems are also Likely to Happen
Imagine living in a place where your income solely depends on the crops you produce yearly. Then what happens when you are no longer able to produce the same number of crops because the weather has not allowed you to exploit the land as you used to?
Climate change has also being listed as the reason behind why people decide to move and migrate to a different state, country or even continent, as it has become more and more difficult as the days go by to have a decent income, especially if a family depends on land to produce their food but also their source of income.
Moving to a different place, even if it’s in the same country means that those individuals will now adopt a new set of problems wherever they go. Perhaps they move to a place where they don’t speak the language or even if they do, they will always have the stigma behind them of being ‘outsiders’ or ‘foreigners’, thus creating more mental health problems that will probably be difficult to deal with.
Extreme Heat as a Result of Climate Change
Human activities that damage the environment, specifically the burning of fossil fuels, have been the number one enemy of the earth. In fact, carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are basically the cause behind climate change and a rise in temperature in the first place.
What’s surprising is the fact that over the last three decades, the earth has been warmer than the decade before. In other words, the planet has not cooled down at all, in fact, the numbers are still going up and the temperatures are getting higher and higher by the minute.
Extreme heat is one of the most-felt consequences of climate change. All throughout the world people have complaint that there has been a rise in temperature. Summers are not like what they used to be and in some areas, winter has become a new summer.
As a result of this, a rise in temperature is related to deaths from cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, and those who are affected are children and elderly people in particular.