Environmental Factors Affecting Health

How Associations Are Helping

• City planners can design cities and buildings in ways that lessen the effects of climate change and carbon emissions
• UNEP implements sustainable development and sets the global environment agenda
• WHO has projects to improve sanitation & water quality and encourages countries to use sustainable technology
• World Bank has projects that strengthen the adaptation to the climate and research sustainable energy

Other Harms

Water and Severe Weather

What You Can Do

• Heat stress is a major health risk of climate change. More than 700 people died in a 7 day heat wave in Chicago, and more than 40,000 died in a 10 day heat wave in Europe.
• Insects and other vectors of disease are more efficient and prevalent in warm climates
• Severe weather leads to displacement, which can cause PTSD or stress conditions
• Climate change stresses crops, which impacts the food supply and may increase prices of food. This could cause malnutrition

• Climate change leads to temperature increase, which causes algal blooms in the sea. These blooms produce airborne toxins which can lead to respiratory illness.
• Temperature increase leads to more water vapor in the air, intensifying the water cycle and leading to extreme weather. This can lead to respiratory illness
• Excess storm water from severe weather can transport contaminants or mix clean and dirty water - water borne illness outbreaks are associated with heavy rainfall
• Microbes and molds that can spread disease thrive in water of a warmer temperature

• Research sustainable technology and see if you can use any in your lifestyle
• Try to use less electricity - turn lights off, bike, turn the A/C off
• Donate to an association or company that focuses on researching sustainable technology or helping people adapt to the effects of climate change, like the ones above

https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://orcasissues.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/IMG_2367.jpg&imgrefurl=http://orcasissues.com/spring-temperatures-bring-red-tide&h=2386&w=3240&tbnid=I4tzdnvaW6ZxgM:&docid=svoA0q3WrO2yEM&ei=QBpjVqHGOInBmwGtm5bYAw&tbm=isch&ved=0ahUKEwih5uT6msXJAhWJ4CYKHa2NBTsQMwhlKCkwKQ&biw=1600&bih=789

red tide

Respiratory Illness

(and other air-related health conditions)

• More ground level ozone causes more respiratory illness
• Pollen count increase is associated with asthma, which is the 2nd most common chronic disease in children
• Air pollution increases risk of respiratory illness
• Particulate matter increases risk of respiratory and heart disease
• Severe weather (which is increased by climate change), specifically wildfires and droughts, makes respiratory illness more prevalent

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjB9IOX8cPJAhVMSyYKHYIuDr8QjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgenius.com%2FChvrches-lungs-lyrics&psig=AFQjCNHJ1i2SEKfUPXtOEyYz3QxL-4EFVQ&ust=1449376178225202

How Climate Change Affects Air

• An increase in temperature leads to more ground level ozone in the atmosphere
• Temperature increase makes pollen, ragweed, and other allergens more predominant in the air
• Climate change leads to more greenhouse gases and air pollution
• Particulate matter (in the air) increases when temperature does

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiameXmmsXJAhVL6iYKHYm4BBwQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hiltonpond.org%2FThisWeek070915.html&psig=AFQjCNFLA4o1EMJp21Cmzp-9ij5QkjRZ5Q&ust=1449421707775948

As income per person increases, so do CO2 emissions per person. This is important for global health because the wealthier and more advanced people get, the more CO2 we are releasing and the more we are speeding up climate change, which negatively impacts our health. Also, the population growth is leading to more income per person, which ultimately speeds up climate change. (from gapminder.com)

ragweed

Global Health Statistics

• People don't generally know much about global health and trends
• For example, one trend is that when income increases, the number of medical doctors tends to increase. When there are more doctors and availability of health services, lifespan increases.
• Social changes in beliefs can lead to economic changes which can lead to health changes
• This information is key to learning about global health and what we need to do

When people's income increases, so does their life expectancy (from gapminder.com)

Environmental Factors Affecting Health