Written by Hajra Mahsud
Edited by Emil Koch & Mehak Bhatia
Climate change is one of the biggest challenges we face today, undermining humanity’s ability to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Commonly known as SDGs, all United Member States adopted the 2030 agenda for sustainable development, with 17 SDGs at their heart, aiming at a poverty-free, sustaining, and peaceful world.
Climate change describes long-term changes in temperature and weather patterns according to the UN. Although climate fluctuations occurred naturally in Earth's history, the rising temperatures, since the 1800s in a very short time scale, substantiate the outstanding human on Earth. Human activity gave rise to an unprecedented burning of fossil fuels and degradation of the terrestrial biosphere.
Now, let us see what heat-trapping gasses are:
Examples of greenhouse gases that heat up the atmosphere by absorbing infrared reflections of sunlight from the Earth include carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. Of note, burning fossil fuels and releasing factory waste into clean water pollute the air and drinking sources, significantly threatening all life forms on Earth.
Respiratory disorders including pneumonia, chronic sarcoid pulmonary disease, asthma, allergies, and other lung-related problems are only a few of the negative implications of climate change on human health. Recovery timeframes range from a few weeks to months or more, and in extreme cases, the condition can be life-threatening. Symptoms include cough, nausea, fever, exhaustion, and difficulty breathing.
Moreover, heart diseases such as ischemic stroke, heart failure, or arrhythmia may affect more people due to extreme extreme hot and cold weather linked to climate change. These diseases are mostly found in warm geographic regions; hence, global warming may cause the spread of their dissemination by expanding the geographic areas their carriers, such as ticks can live in. While Lyme disease and the West Nile virus produce relatively mild symptoms, including headaches and fatigue, other transmittable viruses like Malaria can end up deadly. A Nature paper by Singh et al. (2023) further showed that climate change increases outbreak risks of plant diseases by altering the evolution of pathogens, possibly endangering agricultural yields and, thus, the eradication of hunger. The contamination of water by pollutants and excessive usage of nitrogen as fertilizers and disposal thereof in nearby rivers can cause dangerous diseases like cancer and typhoid, which can be terminal.
Lastly, climate change brings adverse effects on the environment. For example, it is argued that warmer temperatures increase the frequency of acid rain because the chemical reactions involved are accelerated at higher temperatures. The rain has a pH less than 5.6 is known as acid rain, which refers to the levels of acidity the rain contains. Climate change affects this amount which can not only be deadly for humans but also corrosive to buildings, historical monuments, and statues. Furthermore, studies suggest rising global temperatures are associated with more extreme weather patterns, exacerbating floods, droughts, and severe heat waves. Higher temperatures cause glaciers to melt, as a result, sea levels rise, threatening local wildlife habitats and coastal areas around the globe.
Given that climate and human health relate to each other, it becomes imperative to start addressing climate change today. Measures can include lowering the emission of greenhouse gases, raising climate awareness, and bolstering community resilience to better deal with its implications. The change must start today because our actions will reverberate for generations to come.
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