Expected increases within the number of extremely hot days experienced by certain parts of the US might cause an increase in heat-related health problems, according to new research published Tuesday in the Journal from the American Medical Association.
In the research, researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and also the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine are convinced that the cities such as Ny and Milwaukee could see the number of days which are hotter than 90 degrees Fahrenheit triple by 2050, and Dallas could experience two times as many 100 degree days.
As an effect, more people could experience heat stress, respiratory disorders for example asthma and allergic disorders (that are exacerbated by fine particulate pollutants), and both vectorborne and waterborne infectious diseases. Furthermore, climate change could also reduce crop yields, cause a rise in plant diseases, and lead to mental health disorders like PTSD and depression which are associated with natural disasters.
Lead author Jonathan Patz, director of the UW-Madison Global Health Institute, and the colleagues say they wrote the study to encourage efforts which will both help the health of the planet and protect the wellbeing of individuals, including the so-called co-benefits of reducing fossil fuel use and adapting to ongoing climate changes.
“Climate change already has effects on global health,” said Patz, who presented the study Tuesday throughout the Civil Society Event on Action in Global warming and Health. “The great news is that clear health advantages are immediately available, from low-carbon strategies that today could result in cleaner air in order to more active transport options that may improve physical fitness, ultimately saving lives and averting disease.”
He and the colleagues analyzed the scientific data behind a few of the current and projected climate-related health risks, including an increase in extreme heat waves and storm events, an increased chance of waterborne and infectious diseases, chronic health problems linked to polluting of the environment, and a rise in malnutrition and obesity-related risks from unhealthy, carbon-intensive diets.
“Climate change is definitely an enormous public health challenge because it affects our overall health through multiple pathways,” said Patz, who also works as a professor within the Nelson Institute and the Department of Population Health Sciences at UW-Madison. “But if the risks are so interdependent, so, too, would be the opportunities.”
Those opportunities, he said, incorporate a chance to improve air quality by reduction of the amount of unhealthy ozone (smog) within the atmosphere. The study has revealed a link between the quantity of extremely hot days and also the amount of high-ozone days during the last several years in cities like Chicago, Milwaukee and Madison, Wisconsin.
Their findings are “consistent with well-known linkages between climate and ozone in urban areas, and works as a major pathway for that health impacts of global warming,” said UW-Madison associate professor Tracey Holloway. Furthermore, case study submitted numerous science-based ways of reduce global fossil fuel consumption, including designing more sustainable cities, reducing meat consumption and promoting active transportation.
“Evidence shows there is a significant health benefit in active transport, particularly in the area of chronic disease,” explained Patz. “And with current disease trends in industrializing nations, burning less fossil fuel can yield potentially large dividends for public health.”
“These findings dovetail with recent World Health Organization (WHO) studies that identified major health advantages from low carbon housing, transport and agriculture,” added WHO health policy expert Carlos Dora. “Many of those benefits come from reductions in air pollution, but low carbon strategies also can increase exercise, reduce traffic injuries and improve food security.”
