Link between health and climate change
|Published
Indirectly the air quality, affected by changing chemical pollutants as well as distribution of pollens and other allergens, had a negative impact on respiration and aggravated conditions such as asthma and hay fever. Indirectly the air quality, affected by changing chemical pollutants as well as distribution of pollens and other allergens, had a negative impact on respiration and aggravated conditions such as asthma and hay fever.
Cape Town - What do climate change and human health have in common? More than you would think.
A group of scientists and environmental health experts have warned that as the effects of climate change – including heatwaves, floods, droughts and rising seal levels – become more prevalent, so too will health problems such as cardiovascular disease, kidney disease and strokes.
Writing in the SA Medical Journal, Caradee Wright, a senior researcher at the CSIR, said projections showed that as greenhouse gas emissions intensified, resulting in the general warming of the Earth’s surface, southern Africa had a greater risk of experiencing extreme weather events.
Wright and fellow environmental health experts Angela Mathee, of the Medical Research Council (MRC), and Rebecca Garland, of the CSIR, wrote that while the impact of rising temperatures had not been matched to the health of South Africans, the direct effects of increased temperatures included nausea, headaches, more cardiovascular diseases, kidney disease and even strokes.
Indirectly the air quality, affected by changing chemical pollutants as well as distribution of pollens and other allergens, had a negative impact on respiration and aggravated conditions such as asthma and hay fever.
Increased temperatures not only resulted in disruption of agriculture such as droughts and food security risks, but poor water quality resulted in reduced water supply, resulting in waterborne disease.
Given the health risks that communities faced, the scientists said, there was a need for local on-the-ground action and planning to understand the impacts of climate change and decrease the population’s vulnerability.
“The advent of climate change compels all in the public and environmental health field to reassess the environmental health risks that communities face, and decide on the optimal responses going forward,” they said.
Environmental health professionals also needed to hold discussions about critical climate impacts on the health and well-being of citizens.
sipokazi.fokazi@inl.co.za
Cape Argus