Introduction
Global warming has been a very common issue to a lot of people. It had become the topic of every conference, seminars and meeting around the world. It is clear to a lot of people that global warming is no longer a prediction, because scientific studies and evidence continues to arise that the earth’s climate is changing at a very fast pace. Even though the evidence is clear, there is no certainty in every single detail of the evidence because of the nature of science. Global warming has caused a lot of change to the state of the climate for it to be noticed and identified. The major cause of global warming is the greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2). These gases absorb heat emitted from the Earth’s surface (The Royal Society and The US National Academy of Sciences 4). The increase in the atmospheric concentration of the said gases will continue to warm the world by trapping more of this heat. This is caused by a lot of human activities around the world. The continuous pursue for industrialization and advancement of the society made them do this not even realizing the effects at first. Stronger hurricanes, rising oceans, and more intense heat waves are just few of the signs that are already noticeable around the world. The global temperature average has increased by one percent at the start of the 20th century. Beyond the serious effects of global warming to the environment, a more critical issue is at hand, there are potentially irreversible major impacts on physical and biological systems. A recent review concluded that global warming may be the major global threat of the 21st century (Costello et al. 1). Higher temperature rise will contribute to a lot of heat-related diseases and illnesses and it will lead to extended pest and disease vectors. Stronger cyclones will increase the number of infectious diseases by damaging the infrastructure like water supplies and sewage systems through floods. There is also the possibility of the increased frequency of droughts and a more indirect effect on economic instability and loss of livelihood (Chapman et al. 3).
Supporting paragraphs (All of the following paragraphs)
Studies predict that there will be increased heat waves intensity, frequency and duration due to the increased global temperature. Due to this there will be an increase in health-related problems connected to exposure to extreme and prolonged heat like heat cramps, heat fainting, heat exhaustion and heatstroke (Physicians for Social Responsibility, PSR, 1). The increase in temperature will also increase the number of deaths of those heat-related problems. The elderly and the children are the most prone to these kind of health problems. Extreme exhaustion can also lead to cardiovascular disease and kidney diseases. Those people living in the city are the one who will experience the most heat-related illnesses because of elevated temperatures in the cities known as “urban heat island effect” (Knowlton 1). Heat adaptation is possible, but in a constant and frequent exposure to heat, the body’s capability of maintaining temperature balance through increased blood circulation and perspiration will be rendered and lost. In some gathered statistics, the heat waves that occurred during the summer of 2003 caused the countries like United Kingdom, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain to have estimated deaths of about 22,000. Some statisticians argued that the number of deaths that time can still be argued and increased to about fifty percent.
Heat waves affect countries of broad geographic regions and resident populations. The poor and those people already suffering from chronic diseases are the most vulnerable to the said disaster. Heat waves have showed its potentially devastating impact.
Heat-related diseases have caused a lot of health problems around the world, but in countries with cold atmospheres, cold-related diseases and deaths are far worse (Keatinge & Donaldson 1094). In the United States and Europe, a lot of this cold-related problem has cause a lot of people to die. Most of the health problems here are due to common illnesses that are caused by the increase in coldness. The two main causes of the problem are respiratory diseases and coronary and cerebral thrombosis. The decrease in temperature causes our blood to become more concentrated, and due to this the arterial thrombosis is more prone to blood clotting. Both the children and the elderly is affected by this disease, but the elderly suffers more to this disease because of the decrease in body functions. Respiratory infections arise during winters because it spreads readily. With people crowding together in poorly ventilated spaces during winter, the spread of a disease will be higher. Also, breathing col air stimulates coughing and running of the nose, thus helping the spread of respiratory viruses and bacteria.
The increasing levels of air pollution around the world put a lot of people to an environment with ozone levels above the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards (Knowlton 1). There are a lot of air related diseases that can arise from the effects of global warming. Aggravations to chronic respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, damage lung tissue are just some of the effects of being exposed to air pollution; these diseases and illnesses can lead to premature death and even contribute to cancer (PSR 2). The increase in air pollution is associated with the increase in the said diseases and those already suffering from cardiac and pulmonary diseases will worsen their conditions. These air-related problems are just the effects of the change in concentration, distribution and type of both manmade and natural air pollutants around the world. The effects of air pollution can be divided into two; those people exposed to long term pollution will suffer the chronic lung diseases, while those that have a short exposure to the pollution will suffer the more common respiratory impairment, lung inflammations, acutely decreased lung function. The increased number of carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere has no known direct effects on human health, but rather the byproducts of this gas carries the harmful pollutants that can cause a lot of diseases. Some of the byproducts of carbon dioxide are sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides, both associated with a lot of health-related diseases. The high increase in temperature also causes the allergenic pollen season to start earlier and last longer. The higher levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere cause a lot of plants to produce a larger percentage of their pollens. With the increase in the airborne pollens, those with allergies and asthma are sure to experience a worsen condition.
Infectious diseases can emerge from change in the temperature of the world. The emergence of a lot of diseases like malaria, cholera, the Nile virus and dengue fever can be affected by the climate change (Knowlton 2). The patterns of the said diseases can be disrupted, and their emergence can have a higher percentage than before. The World Health Organization (WHO) said that climate change triggered the change in infectious disease transmission patterns. The occurrence and transmission of insect-borne diseases increases as the temperature and the amount of rainfall also increases. The increase in temperature around the world will cause a rapid development of more dangerous pathogens within insects. Vector-borne diseases are caused by infections from blood feeding arthropods, like mosquitoes. Mosquitoes are very sensitive to temperature changes, with an increase in temperature, their reproduction rate also increases. The number of blood meals and the breeding season also increases with temperature. Previously cold areas are now being infested by the vector-borne diseases as they expand their range. A lot of infections can emerge as the climate change progresses, and worse they can even evolve to a more dangerous kind of infections.
Global warming continuous to threaten the survival of human kind, the increase in floods and droughts are expected to be experienced around the world. The melting of the ice caps and warming of the ocean may cause flooding (Keatinge & Donaldson 1098). There will be unavailability of drinking water and the lack of irrigation supplies. There will be shortage of water and food supplies in a lot of countries. Drought can cause the lack of food variety and nutritional content which can cause malnutrition and even starvation. Warming the ocean can also cause the fishes population to shift their geographic range. Food will be scare as global warming progresses and a lot will suffer the food-borne illnesses.
Scarcity of drinking water is not only the problem; outbreaks in the contamination of drinking water will also increase. Global warming will bring a lot of changes in the world including the increase in rainfall. Water-borne diarrheal diseases caused by parasites will increase due to heavy rainfalls. Third-world countries will be the one to feel the severe effects of this, because of the unavailability of water treatment facilities.
Global warming causes flood to occupy a lot of habitable land, thus resulting to another indirect effect, the increases in environmental refugees. Many people are forced to leave their homes because water is claiming it. Drought also causes people to migrate to another habitable place. The health of most of the refugees is being threatened because of the crowding, shortage of food and water and the transmission of common diseases like colds and cough.
Conclusion
Poor countries will be the first to feel the effects of global warming while first world countries continue to industrialize. A lot of people are aiming for power not realizing that they are already killing themselves in the process. The effects of global warming are real and it is already in front of us. We can continue to ignore it, but we can also save ourselves from destruction we brought to the world.
Works Cited
Chapman, Philippa, et al. Climate change & human health. Wellington: University of Otago, 2010.
Costello, Anthony , et al. Managing the health effects of climate change. United Kingdom: The Lancet Commissions, 2009.
Keatinge, W R and G C Donaldson. The Impact of Global Warming on Health and. London: The Southern Medical Association, 2004.
Knowlton, Kim. "Global Warming And Our Health." 2008.
Physicians for Social Responsibility. The Medical and Public Health Impacts of Global Warming. Washington DC: US Affiliate of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, n.d.
Royal Society & US National Academy of Sciences. Climate Change: Evidence & Causes. United Kingdom, 2013.
