(University/Institute/ College)
Climate change and health: discussion and impacts
In the span of two centuries, humans have done what no other species has been able to accomplish-to impact the basic functioning of the planet. Scientists call this era as the “Anthropocene;” it was at this time in history wherein humans became the commanding species on the planet resulting in massive disruptions in the planet’s ecological and geophysical operations. Prior to the era, the climate was stable in the Holocene period and before that the Pleistocene period was primarily marked by significant glacial movements (McMichael, 2011, pp. 187-188). With regards to global health, the impacts of climate shifts-rising temperatures, shifts in rain fall, increasing frequency of extreme weather conditions, and higher sea levels-all of these circumstances will impact the food, water, air and the weather the international community experiences on a daily basis. The harshness of the threats to people’s health will be dependent on the capacity of government health and welfare systems to effectively address these constantly changing threats and factor in such elements as the person’s age, gender, and economic status. In addition, the severity of the exposure will also be determined by the area where the person resides, their sensitivity to the health threats, and the ability of the community to successfully cope and overcome the threat (United States Environmental Protection Agency, 2016).
In the 20th century, populations rose fourfold and the economic activity for every person rose threefold. On a global scale, human economic activity has resulted in an “overdraft” of 30 percent over what the plant can sustain. As a result, the temperature increase scale for the planet is well above what the planet has experienced in the past (McMichael, 2011, p. 190). In the study of Patz, Campbell-Lendrum, Holloway and Foley (2005), the reports averred that in the opinion of the World Health Organization (WHO), negative impacts of climate change on health since the mid-1970s could inflict or has inflicted more than 150,000 deaths and reduced by more than 5 million ‘disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) annually by way of rising instances of illnesses such as diarrhea, malaria and starvation that typically happen in developing or poor nations. The WHO calculated mortality rates beginning in the year 2000; the IPCC “business as usual” climate change template was used in estimating climate shifts using a “baseline” from the years 1961-1990 statistics. Studies have shown that aside from the above mentioned illnesses, there was an inordinate rise in cardiovascular illnesses and flooding both in inland and coastal areas for the year 2000, and are expected to last up to 2030.
In the “global climate model” engaged by the UK’s Hadley Center that calculates projections for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, it points to the fact that health related risks will double every year until the year 2030. Though the changes will be seen as small, the template project these abnormalities will degenerate into larger aggregates for other diseases. For example, global climate shifts in the sub-Saharan Africa, inundation kills less than one individual per year; but the incidents of malaria and diarrhea that results from the floods kills more than 1,600 for million and 1,000 per million, respectively (Patz, Campbell-Lendrum, Holloway and Foley, 2005, pp. 313-314).
Nurses in the frontlines against climate change
Many climate change analysts have proffered that nurses as well as other professionals in the health care sector must be involved in efforts aimed at disseminating information on reduction and adjustment to the impacts of climate change. There is literature that calls on the nursing sector to take an active role in preparing policy papers on the effect of climate change on the nursing profession, and to include the impacts of climate change in the curriculum of nursing schools. It can be said that nurses are in a unique position to distribute critical information regarding climate change. This is because nurses possess both the technical knowledge and the communication abilities to be able to convey the technicalities in the issue in a language that is understandable to the general public. Given their specialization to effect behavioral modifications and health advocacies will aid them greatly in helping people make the appropriate lifestyle operations that will in turn reduce the amount of greenhouse gases not only individuals, but also by entire communities (Pfeiffer, 2011, p. 23).
Adjustments to climate changes have traditionally included “physiological acclimatization, behavioral programs, technical concerns such as consultations in building designs and in the preparation and development of disaster mitigation policies.” Nurses have a critical part in supporting advocacies that will reduce or eventually remove disparities in society, buttressing public health frameworks and advocating for behavioral schemes designed to develop adoption to climate shifts. This is due to the historical record of nurses having a high percentage of success among patients with regards to crucial life changes such as child birth and diagnosis for a critically terminal illness.
In terms of mitigation strategies, nurses can be a significant conduit on “getting the information out” on climate change. Nurses, as part of the discharge outlining program, can offer handouts on the area of climate change impacting prenatal care, enjoining all personnel to observe GHG reducing measures during staff and personnel meetings, and even joining neighborhood and “exurbs” meetings in helping to craft policies designed to reduce discharges and environmentally damaging practices. For example, nurses as policy makers, can help in promoting messages such as lesser GHG emissions will redound to the greater health improvement in the community; in this light, urban planners can build on that initiative and build communities and transport structures where biking or walking would be more efficient compared to riding one’s car or even public transport systems (Canadian Nurses Association, 2008, pp. 7-9).
References
Canadian Nurses Association (2008) “The role of nurses in addressing climate change” Retrieved 29 June 2016 from <https://www.cna-aiic.ca/~/media/cna/page-content/pdf-en/climate_change_2008_e.pdf?la=en
McMichael, T (2011) Climate change: human health impacts-past, present, and future. Health pp. 186-208
Pfeiffer, A.J., (2011) “The effects of climate change on public health and the healthcare provider’s role in addressing climate change.” Retrieved 29 June 2016 from <http://digitalcommons.uri.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1257&context=srhonorsprog
United States Environmental Protection Agency (2016). “Climate impacts on human health” Retrieved 29 June 2016 from <https://www3.epa.gov/climatechange/impacts/health.html
Patz, J.A., Campbell-Lendrum, D., Holloway, T., and Foley, J.A., (2005). “Impact of regional climate change on human health.” Nature Volume 438 pp. 310-317
