It is difficult to accurately predict climate change impacts on human health. Eventually the scale depends on the adaptation of nature and humans, agricultural production in new circumstances and availability of health care. Often illnesses and death are caused by various factors and environmental hazards tend to affect them.It is difficult to accurately predict climate change impacts on human health. Eventually the scale depends on the adaptation of nature and humans, agricultural production in new circumstances and availability of health care. Often illnesses and death are caused by various factors and environmental hazards tend to affect them.

The health impacts of climate change can be short-term and powerful or occur over a long period of time. Temperature and ultraviolet radiation have the most direct impacts, in addition to extreme weather, such as storms, floods and heavy rainfall.

Indirect effects can be due to worsened air quality, increased infections, the amount of pollen or the reduced amount of clean food and water. Here is a short list of impacting factors:

• Ecosystems and the services they provide, including clean water, soil and air, are changing. In the future, climate change will likely exacerbate droughts and increase the risk of infections and water-borne diseases, such as diarrhoeal diseases.
• Changes in species population affect the global food production and cause hunger. Animal-borne diseases are sparked and become epidemic.
• Man-made systems experience major disturbances, such as disruptions in electrical power supply and heat distribution. In a worst-case scenario, heat-related deaths will increase and elderly people will be stranded in their unheated homes after winter storms.

Kevin Hale

While climate change is a global phenomenon, its negative impacts on health are more severely felt by poor countries, where droughts, erosion and floods cause harvest and livestock loss and malnutrition. Climate change may also have an impact on rising food prices. It poses a challenge to food production not only in developing countries but also in Europe. Studies indicate that the weather will be unpredictable with droughts and excessive rainfall. Changing circumstances require modern farming technologies and new types of crops in order to ensure crop yields and livestock production.

Increasing climate change related to water shortages is expected to pose health hazards. Diarrhoeal diseases like cholera and other water-borne infectious illnesses are said to be linked to the eutrophication of waterways and global warming.

In addition, water-dependent vector-borne diseases, such as mosquito-transmitted dengue fever and many human-infectious diseases are expected to spread particularly in poorer cities. With global warming, a rising malaria risk will cause major problems also in the northern latitudes. Since breeding of the disease-carrying Anopheles type mosquitos depends on warm temperatures and moisture, it has been estimated that climate change could make the USA and Southern Europe a more attractive destination for them. In this case, about 60% of the world’s population would live in areas where the climate is suitable for malaria transmission, as opposed to the current number of 45%.

Changes in local environments, famine and natural disasters can force mass migration in the most vulnerable tropical and subtropical regions. Losing homes or/and crops to droughts or flooding can result in an increase of refugees and an expanding of slums. In the temporary shelters of refugee camps and cities, infectious diseases, such as influenza, measles and tuberculosis, will spread due to the unhygienic conditions and an increase in disaster-related mental health problems.

Asian Development Bank

Heat Exposure can Impact our Health in Many Ways

Local climate conditions define the limits and optimum (minimum mortality) temperature of our adaptation. In northern regions, the health impacts of hot temperatures occur in a much lower temperature range than in mid- and Southern Europe due to lack of heat adaptation. Over the last few decades, the number of heat-related deaths has decreased in Europe, partly due to improved building standards, but climate change will cause more intense and longer heat waves in the future.

Studies show that very high and low temperatures are associated with increased risk of death among those who suffer from heart and cardiovascular-related illnesses, lung diseases and neurological disorders. Certain medications, such as diuretics, decrease heat adaptation. In addition to the number of hot days, it is crucial to estimate the length of hot periods. Heat-related deaths go up exponentially with rising temperatures and mortality peaks during longer heat waves.

Longer heat waves and an increasing number of hot days pose a severe health risk to urban citizens. Due to the so-called urban heat island, temperatures in urbanised areas are considerably higher than in surrounding rural areas and the effect is stronger, particularly on summer nights. Urban structures and asphalt absorb heat and release it during the night. Therefore, temperatures in urban areas tend to drop much more slowly than on the countryside, where the natural environment acts as a buffer against heat.

Socio-economic status is closely linked to the rate of heat-related deaths. At greater risk are people who are homeless or have no income, as well as those who lack adequate services; for example, older lonely people with limited mobility are often unable to adapt to a sudden heat wave. In addition, children, athletes, outdoor workers and the chronically ill are all vulnerable to extreme temperatures.

We need to be prepared for the health impacts of climate change and invest in adaptation. Adaptation methods range from technical solutions to staff education and building relationships with neighbours.

Mitigating heat wave impacts includes increasing air conditioning and ventilation at nursing homes and hospitals. In order to help the elderly living alone to cope during hot weather, care providers should be educated about mitigation plans and heat wave health risks. Neighbours and other social networks may save the lives of lonely, elderly people during a heat wave.

The urban heat island effect can be reduced through meticulous planning. Trees, green roofs and vegetation can help to cool the microclimate since trees provide shade and decrease the need to mechanically cool buildings. Efficient building placement, planning, choices of materials, air conditioning and ventilators can help to keep houses cool.

The warming climate raises concerns about food hygiene and the chilling of foods. Food-related health hazards during excessive heat can be avoided by maintaining a cold chain.

Because of its complexity and large scale, climate change is a problem most of us would rather not think about – and we do that successfully so much of the time. The human mind is extraordinary good at protecting itself from unpleasant feelings, even if that is harmful in the long run.

We easily belittle future risks. Our brain is structured to detect immediate danger and to respond instantly – the fight or flight response. It has not developed to respond to statistics. Since it is impossible to directly perceive the immediate consequences of climate change, unlike, for instance, water eutrophication, we have the tendency to hope that there will be a miraculous solution to the devastation we have brought upon the earth.

The causes of climate change are deeply embedded in our social structures, and tackling them requires many small as well as large continuous steps in the long run. That said, the large scale of the problem might feel overwhelming. Individual choices do not seem to matter in the end. Non-stop news about climate change may cause emotional numbness and tiredness. At the same time, we are not usually afraid of things we consider ordinary, unlike rare disasters.

Certain factors support taking action against climate change and certain factors prevent it. The latter include ignorance, an inability to see the connection between climate change and one’s own life, scepticism about the effectiveness of responding to climate change, unwillingness to give up an unsustainable lifestyle, general resistance to change, fear of personally sticking out from the crowd, mistrust towards scientific methods and not being ready to take on big enough steps towards a greener lifestyle. Climate-friendly action requires exactly the opposite.

Schools typically aim to raise awareness. However, it is not enough, since raising awareness generally applies mostly to those who already agree on the topic and those who don’t yet have fixed ideas about it.

Although many believe climate change is real and that something should be done, it doesn’t necessarily lead to personal engagement. Often there is a great conflict between attitudes and behaviour. Psychology can provide tools to promote more ambitious behavioural responses to climate change, although there is no straightforward path to implementing this. Similar tools are applied in marketing to make us consume more and compare our consumer behaviour to others. Therefore, psychology skills include media literacy.

All in all, it would be sensible to make environmentally friendly choices available to all; for example, to present renewable electricity as the default option. Individuals would have to choose if she/he would rather have electricity from non-renewable sources. Positive peer pressure is an even more effective tool to change behaviour since most of us want to be like everyone else. In addition, climate change heroes are important to inspire people to act against global warming, and because we all are different, we need role models from all walks of life: mothers, engineers, trendy vegans, farmers, young and old, city dwellers, country people, Pekingese and Parisians.

Change requires experiencing negative emotions which can serve to highlight why the change is necessary. Although processing loss and disappointment is always important in times of crisis, it is also crucial to find hope and opportunities. Hope opens up constructive thinking and dialogue.

Immediate positive feedback – e.g., smiley faces or thumbs-up emoji – for doing something positive for environment, is a surprisingly powerful motivating force, for adults too. The stronger the motivation, the more efficient the action.

An appreciation of the environment, humans and other species is an important motivator in the fight against climate change. Emotional connection to nature correlates with environmentally friendly action. Cultivating and preserving nature not only for our beloved ones but everyone, helps us to understand causal effects on a wider scale. It also motivates us to help the planet.

marin

Greenhouse gas emissions from food vary greatly. On average, vegetables bring about much lower emissions than animal-based products. One kilogram of beef has multiple emissions compared to the emissions from berries, vegetables, beans and potatoes. According to current methods to calculate emissions, even pork and poultry are a considerably eco-friendlier choice than beef.

Worldwide meat consumption has nearly doubled since the year 1960 and ever-bigger portions are being consumed. In addition, dairy consumption has increased, but not nearly as steeply. Carbon emissions from cheese can be nearly as high as that from beef. In order to keep agricultural emissions at bay, we need to reduce our current meat consumption by more than 50% from an average 200 grams a day.

Today, most people consume too much protein and our recommended daily intake could easily come from smaller amounts of meats or plant protein. Many plants are packed with protein; therefore animal protein is easy to replace with various types of beans (for example broad beans, black beans, soybeans), peas, lentils, nuts, seeds and whole grains. These can also be used to make various types of processed products, such as pulled oats, seitan made from wheat gluten and soy in its dozens of forms. Adopting a plant-based diet is also good for our wallets and helps to prevent many health issues, such as heart diseases, obesity and some cancers.

As far as climate and health is concerned, adopting a plant-based diet is a sensible choice, but it is still not the simple solution to sustainability. Naturally, animal farming raises many ethical concerns. For instance, in South America meat production is a major threat to ecosystems and forests serving as carbon sinks. But also soybean production in the Amazon is linked to deforestation, and the crop is generally used in animal feed. However, for example in Finland, a decrease in livestock grazing and cattle raised indoors has impoverished biodiversity. From a Nordic food security perspective, it is significant that grass grown for cows is also growing in areas where crops cannot be grown for humans.

kube414

Today, Europeans commute a daily average distance of 40-50 kilometres and 80% of the journeys are done by car. Domestic transport emissions correspond to 20% of Finland’s total emissions and road traffic emissions account for more than 70% of total transport emissions. After air travel, motoring has the highest per unit emissions per kilometre. In addition to carbon dioxide emissions, motoring causes particle emissions, congestion and noise pollution. When looking at emissions caused by personal mobility, an individual’s place of residence becomes the single most influential factor. In sparsely populated areas, distances travelled are long and result in more kilometres travelled every day in comparison to dense urban areas. Commutes to holiday homes and tourism also increase emissions.

For longer journeys, car emissions can be reduced through public transport, car pools or energy efficient driving, if a car is a necessity. For shorter journeys, cycling and walking are great ways to reduce emissions since they are carbon neutral. Environmentally friendly exercise is also good for one’s health.

Most emissions from leisure activities come from car commuting. If you want to keep your leisure activities eco-friendly, increase walking, cycling or the use of public transport. Some leisure activities, such as motor sports and activities that require space heating or cooling, increase carbon emissions. Jogging outdoors consumes six times less natural resources than a workout at the gym and eleven times less than a swim session at a swim centre. A 15 km car commute to a leisure activity triples the amount of emissions.

Winter cycling is a great way to get around. In the future, winters will be less snowy, but even in snowy conditions winter cycling is an excellent, ecological and healthy way to exercise if you are prepared for the weather, riding conditions and have the right clothing.