Truth About the Impact of Climate Change

According to a group of experts headed by Kofi Annan, ex-U.N. Secretary General, 300,000 people die every year from disasters that occur as a result of climate change. In addition, these disasters lead to about $125 billion in economic losses worldwide, the most affected field being agriculture. The calculations presented at the Global Humanitarian Forum showed that climate change has a serious impact on 325 million people and, according to specialists, this number will double by 2030. In future, a greater number of people will suffer from natural disasters produced as a result of climate change that also leads to environmental degradation.



Silent Human Crisis

Kofi Anan stated that climate change represents a silent human crisis, addition that it is currently the greatest rising humanitarian challenge. The report presented at the Forum states that sea levels continue rising, rainfall patterns are changing and desertification that take place worldwide leads to the reduction of access to safe drinking water, as well as food, with more people having to look for other sources. Such effects of climate change lead to an increased number of cases of diarrhea, malaria and malnutrition.



According to the report, 99 percent of people die each year as a result of climate change causes, live in developing countries. This is despite the fact that those countries produce less than one percent of total greenhouse gas emissions, which are the main cause of global warming. It is worth mentioning that the conclusions presented in the report were based on a number of existing information regarding weather-related disasters, population tendencies, as well as economic forecasts.

Climate Change and Human Health



Climate change has also a great impact on human health, its living signs being tree-munching beetles, malaria-carrying mosquitoes and deer ticks - the main tools of spreading Lyme disease. Taking advantage of a warming world, such pests grow in numbers, alarming the world population, which previously did not take them into consideration. Now, however, with an increase in temperature, people need to be more aware of the insects that can have a negative effect on their health.



Global warming could increase the number of mosquito-borne diseases, including such diseases as malaria, dengue fever, yellow fever, as well as a variety of viral causes of encephalitis. Climate change would also lead to more algae blooms in water, which would significantly raise the risk of the spread of such diseases like cholera. Besides, people who have respiratory problems could be affected by warming-provoked increases in smog.

The generations of pine bark beetles that live in the western part of North America and the number of which decreases during winter months, will reproduce in greater numbers due to climate change.



In a commentary, the Lancet medical journal stated that climate change currently represents the biggest health threat around the world. With other different insects spreading across the United States, Paul Epstein of the Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard University considers that prompt actions should be taken, the only possible solution being the reduction of climate change. \"You can tuck your pants into your socks and be very vigilant, but ultimately, if we don\'t stabilize the climate, it\'s going to continue to increase ... infectious diseases,\" mentioned Epstein. He added that coal-fired power plants, steel mills along with cars that run on petroleum do more than just change climate - their emissions lead to growth of ragweed, a type of flowering plants from the sunflower family. This plant extends the asthma seasons that occur in spring and fall.



Dr. Chris Portier of the U.S. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, outlined that today it is rather complicated to estimate the potential financial costs related to health problems that occur as a result of climate change in the United States.

Heat Waves



With a continuous increase in temperature, more heat waves are expected to take place. The forecast presented by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the number of heat waves will increase by 25 percent in Chicago by 2010. In Los Angeles people should prepare for an increase in heat waves of up to 8 times by the end of the century. The most vulnerable people will be the ones that heat waves will hit the hardest, says the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The categories of people that will be hit the most include: the youngest, elderly people, the homeless, as well as people suffering from heart problems and asthma.



In a statement the Environmental Protection Agency outlined that carbon dioxide, which is the most powerful greenhouse gas, has the greatest impact on human health and welfare. The EPA called for specific regulations of emissions. Currently the U.S. Congress takes actions to come up with a bill that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, it is working on issuing permits which would be traded between companies that register higher level of greenhouse gas emissions and those that have more environmentally friendly policy.

Rising Sea Levels



Currently, about 30 percent of world population lives about 60 miles of a shoreline. In case the sea levels rise, as a result of global warming, all of these people could be greatly affected. It is expected that over the next decades the sea levels will rise by up to 1 meter (3 feet). Scientist say that by 2100 about one billion people could turn into environmental refugees, with homes and crops being flooded.



Climate change is a process that humanity should control and make everything possible to keep our planet safe. In a corporative world it is rather difficult to achieve, but if nothing is made now soon it could be too late. Governments worldwide should unite under one common goal, forgetting about the discrepancies they had in the past and the ones they are currently having; otherwise environmental problems could worsen, leading to millions and even billions of deaths around the globe.