The unpredictable changes in climate have a considerable impact on the health of the global population. People need to adjust to the changing weather conditions, and the inability to cope may lead to the development of weather related illnesses and even death. This paper aims to discuss the health concerns that arise due to global climate change, as well as the factors that contributed to the difference in the impact of climate change in the US, UK and China.
I. Health Concerns Related to Climate Change
a. Expansion of Microbial Pathogens
One of the health concerns brought by climate change is that the warmer temperature helps in the expansion of microbial pathogens in places that was once unfavorable for their survival. The risk is that humans and other living organisms may not have fully developed their defenses against these pathogens, thus the likelihood of succumbing to diseases due to lower immunity. As pointed out by Rafa et al (2012): “In the absence of adequate protective adaptation, there will be an increasing need for medical treatment of conditions that currently are not commonly seen by many healthcare professionals”. Further, climatic changes are said to play a vital role in increasing the resistance and adaptive ability of the pathogen in the environment. One example of which is the emergence of the Cryptococcosis in the Pacific Northwestern area, which is a temperate part of the United States (Rafa et al, 2012). This pathogen that can cause fatal pulmonary diseases and infections in the nervous system was traced to have originated from British Columbia, and there is the fear of its spread in more temperate climates due to the rise in global temperature. Thus, the need for medical practitioners to be more aware of the symptoms of climate related illnesses as the erratic changes in global climate pose challenges for health care professionals.
b. Effect of Heat Waves to Health and Mortality
Another threatening factor brought by climate change is the distribution of risk elements such as heat waves that have a devastating effect on human beings. Research revealed that global climate change is highly influential in increasing the frequency of heat waves (Peng et al, 2011). A recent study that focused on how climate change can impact human health, mortality and morbidity in the future was conducted, and research indicated the profound effect of future heat waves on health. For instance, based on annual heat wave models, and in the absence of adaptation, an estimated 166 to 2,217 deaths was predicted to be attributed heat waves in Chicago alone by the year 2081 to 2100 (Peng et al, 2011). Accordingly, as a means to prevent such occurrence, the researchers suggested the lowering of carbon dioxide emissions (Peng et al, 2011). Further, it is also suggested that health care professionals and other scholars will adopt measures to address such risks.
c. Health Protection Strategies a BSN can Implement
The profound impact of climate change present diverse challenges to the health care industry. For example, it was pointed out that “failure to adequately address the threats of climate change in nursing could be seen as a failure of moral responsibility to address global health issues.” (qtd. in Goodman, 2013). Thus, in their capacity as health care providers, nurses can help in the dissemination of information to other people and organizations about the effect of climate change to the environment and health (Goodman, 2013). Further, nurses can engage in community efforts to address health concerns and climate change issues. For those who work in hospitals, they may consider becoming more aware of “resource use, procurement, waste, travel and food sourcing” (Goodman, 2011).
II. U.S Comparison with United Kingdom and China
The different agencies in the United States are working towards the alleviation of climate change impact. However, the refusal of the US government to ratify the Kyoto Protocol (Wiley, 2010) was perceived as a refusal to commit in the cause to alleviate the impact of climate change. The opposition against the Kyoto Protocol can be attributed to the fear of having to adhere to changes that can impact the economic growth of the country.
As a means to mitigate the impact of climate change, the Department of Environment in the United Kingdom organized an expert group that aims to identify and report climate change issues. Further, the Department of Health and the British Medical Association agreed on factors to consider in facing future health challenges. The concern of the different agencies is focused on the possible occurrence of catastrophes brought by climate change such as increased frequency of heat waves, flooding and emergence of infectious diseases (Goodman, 2013).
On the other hand, China has the highest amount of carbon dioxide emissions among other countries, thus the need for it to lead the way to adapt mitigation processes. It was found that the average increase in temperature in the country ranged from 0.03 degrees to 0.12 degrees Celsius in the past century (Sabel et al, 2016). Consequently, there is the concern that the mitigating measures can have a detrimental impact, as slowing the industrial operation in the country may lead to slower economic growth (Sabele t al, 2016).
III. Summary
There are several health concerns related to the climate change, one of which is the emergence of pathogens that can cause illnesses. There is the risk that disease-causing pathogens will be able to adapt to the environment due to the warmer climate, while humans will not be able to develop the physical immunity against it. Moreover, there are also the risks of heat waves that was proven to cause death and morbidity in a considerable number of the population. As a means to face these challenges, the health care industry must adopt measures to mitigate the impact of climate change. Health care professionals, such as the nurses, must work in their capacity to decrease the factors that can cause climate change. In addition to that, they can help in the information dissemination so that the public will become more informed about climatic changes and how it affect the environment and health as well.
References
Goodman, B., (2013). Role of the nurse in addressing the health effects of climate change. Nursing Standard 27(35) pp. 49-56
Peng, R. Bobb, J., Tebaldi, C., McDaniel. L., Bell, M., Dominici, F., (2011). Towards a quantitative estimate of future heat wave mortality under global climate change. Environmental Health Perspectives. 119 (5)
Sabel, C., Hiscock, R., Asikainen, A., Bi, J., Depledge, M., Den Elshout, S., & Freidrick, R. (2016). Public health impacts of city policies to reduce climate change: Findings from the URGENCHE-EU-China project. Environmental health, 15(1).
Raffa, R., Eltoukhy, N., Raffa, K. (2012). Implications of climate change (global warming) for the health care system. Journal of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics 37, pp. 502-504
Wiley, L. (2010) Mitigation/Adaption and health: Health policymaking in the global response to climate change and implications for other upstream determinants. Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics
