How climate change is affecting our health
April 26, 2010 by Raquel
Filed under HEALTHCARE
As a follow-up to our Earth Day post last week, let us explore further the association between climate and our health. A healthy environment supports a healthy population. A sick environment, however, results in a population that is unfit. If Darwin’s survival of the fittest theory were to be true, then we might have to ask ourselves, are we fit enough to survive climate change. A recent report by an interagency group led by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) underlines the significant impact of climate change on human health. The report entitled A Human Health Perspective on Climate Change identified 11 categories of human diseases that are affected by climate change, namely:
- Asthma, respiratory allergies, and airway diseases
- Mental health and stress-related disorders
- Cancer
- Neurological diseases and disorders
- Cardiovascular disease and stroke
- Waterborne diseases
- Foodborne diseases and nutrition
- Weather-related morbidity and mortality
- Heat-related morbidity and mortality
- Vectorborne and zoonotic diseases (like malaria, which can be transmitted from animals to humans)
- Human developmental effects
According to Dr. Linda Birnbaum, director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and the National Toxicology Program (NTP), whose institute led the interagency initiative
Climate change goes beyond than just the weather. It changes the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat. It even changes the sun rays that touch our skin. It is no wonder that it has a great impact on our health.
According to Dr. Howard Koh, assistant US Secretary for Health
Are our environmental transgressions coming back to haunt us and the generations to come?
