Implications of Global Climate Change on Human Health

Global Climate Change and Health
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Global Climate Change and Health
Scientists recognize that climate change is the greatest global threat that can affect the survival of humanity in the twenty-first century, adversely affecting people’s health, wellbeing, and the environment. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published the 5th Assessment Report, which showed that global warming was caused by anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs), which ultimately exposes individuals to harmful health impacts (Gasparrini, et al, 2017). The main factors that influence climate patterns are the current and future trajectories of GHGs emission, and this will mainly depend on climatic and environmental policies and the level of socioeconomic development in different countries. This paper critically analyzes the current and future implications of global climate change on people’s health.
Science has revealed that global climate change is responsible for the increase in sea temperature and water surface, deterioration of air quality, and severe weather conditions that adversely affect people’s health. According to Luber and Prudent (2009), the rise in the emission of GHGs tends to destabilize the natural weather patterns, thus resulting to direct and indirect health complications. The negative health impacts include exposure to environmental toxins, heat-related diseases, exacerbation of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases as a result of deteriorating air quality, water, and vector-borne illnesses, mental health challenges and so on (Luber & Prudent, 2009). Evidence has also shown that although these health complications are rampant in the current society, they will worsen with increased socioeconomic development in the long term if the governments fail to implement policies to curb climate change. Furthermore, with the fast increase and expansion of the urban populations, the level of vulnerability of global climate change continues to worsen since very few countries are sufficiently addressing the issue of climate change or implementing measures to improve people’s health.
Variability of the weather patterns has scientifically been proven to cause an increase in surface temperatures which result in the melting of snow and ice, ultimately contributing to adverse effects on people's health. Even though experts have managed to develop mitigation strategies and other public health responses, the complexity, scope, and timeline of the global climate change are still unprecedented (Frumkin et al., 2008). Therefore, governments and environmental agencies need to adopt public health strategies towards dealing with global climate change, especially when it comes to handling public health issues that extend beyond population and clinical health services. Such strategies should emphasize coordinating local, state, and federal agencies, while working together with the academic, nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector.
Experts conducted a study on the effects of climate change, and it involved 24 institutions of higher learning as well as intergovernmental agencies. The report showed that from 2000 to 2016, individuals were expos...