Research And Describe Impact Of Climate Change On Human Health (Essay Sample)

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Impact of Climate Change on Human Health
Human is a conscious being whose insatiable desire to exploit the world has culminated in climate change. Activities that are known to affect the environment range from combusting fossil fuel to burning forests, all of which increase emissions that erode the ozone layer besides contaminating the air. As a result, global warming and unpredictable weather patterns continue to wreak havoc on human health. As humans boast of technological advances, climate change slams their progress with infections of all sorts: cardiovascular diseases, respiratory disorders, and mental illnesses (list not exhaustive). Such health threats further undermine economic productivity. In this essay, therefore, I examine the effect that climate change has on human health. Without mitigation, human health will continue to worsen due to climate change whose results are increasingly growing adverse.
Heat stress and associated disorders top the list of known perils of the warming planet. Research has established that cardiac arrest is a leading cause of heat-related deaths, which average 658 in the U.S. alone according to a decade-long study ending 2009 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 433). Hazards of global warming become even more appalling following their discriminate striking pattern that leaves children, women, elderly population, and those with preexisting health conditions increasingly susceptible. Rising temperatures are also among the causes of economic woes among the outdoor, working populace. Researchers have warned that by 2050s workdays lost as a result of heat could hit 18 percent (Kjellstrom et al. cited in Patz et al. 1568). Climate change is even culpable for respiratory illnesses.
Evidence of respiratory disorders imputable to climate changes abound. Human activity has seen a significant rise in particulate matter, ground-level ozone, as well as nitrogen dioxide. Short-term and long-term exposure to the three substances is believed to result in childhood respiratory disease, cardiovascular mortality and morbidity, all-cause, and hospital admissions (Doherty, Heal, and O’Connor 34). Invoking Johnston et al., Patz et al. noted that particulate matter from forest fires result in the annual premature death of about 339,000 people globally (1569). Pertinently, it is worth noting that air pollution and aeroallergens also exacerbate such diseases as asthma, and the human brain is not spared either.
Some of the far-reaching effects of climate change include deteriorating mental health. Even though the relationship may not be apparent following a cursory examination, scholars agree that post-traumatic disorder, depression, and anxiety are inalienable from unfortunate occurrences such as hurricanes, floods, and heat waves (Patz et al. 1570). Floods, in particular, a...