Literature Review
The understanding of climate change and its influences on the developmental and activity levels for various vectors is a critical factor of concern in terms of control and management of transmissible diseases. Presently, the concomitant changes in the global temperatures have resulted in elevation of the global temperatures by 1.50C to 4.50C over the last 1200 years (Williams, Mincham, Ritchie, Viennet, & Harley, 2014). Although consistent changes are evident across the globe, the latitudinal differences present an additional variation across the entire world. Even within the latitudinal differences, the changes are not homogenous. For instance, the degree of climate warming at the equatorial zones is slower in comparison with the one at the higher latitudes such as the Nearctic as well as at the Palearctic regions (Williams, Mincham, Ritchie, Viennet, & Harley, 2014). Moreover, research shows that summer temperatures also warm at a slower rate compared to the winter temperatures (Williams, Mincham, Ritchie, Viennet, & Harley, 2014). The climate warming experienced over the Earth’s surface also affects precipitation distribution across the Earth (Walton & Reisen, 2013). For instance, the warming processes and the changes in precipitation patterns over the last decade signals that northern high latitudes are increasingly becoming wetter as African and Asian continents continue to become drier with the course of time (Walton & Reisen, 2013).
Locally, the
Climate change has affected us in many ways, but it was even more influential on organisms and their community. The Earth is gradually heating and we are left to deal with the consequences. Homes are being destroyed, organisms are dying, and resources are running low. Since 1880, Our Earth’s temperature had increased by about 0.8 degrees Celsius. Climate change is affecting the Earth and scientists say that one more degree will greatly affect people from all over the world. There are many consequences of climate change and each one has a great impact on all of us, but organisms’ homes are being destroyed and thousands of species are dying out. These organisms are imperative to our world and how it functions.
Unfortunately, for individuals in the developing world resources are lacking. It is individuals in these situations that are extremely vulnerable to potential exposure. Climate change is also impacting disease transmission. Large environmental areas are shrinking due to urban sprawl which is leading to increased populations density’s, increased pathogen load, decreased distributions, and a greater prevalence of disease (Mills, Gage, Khan, 2010). Thus, larger numbers of individuals are living in close proximity of disease vectors.
From the article “Climate Change and Your Health” the author replies that Rising temperatures will likely lead to more frequent and severe heat waves, natural disasters, poor air quality and spreading diseases. For example, in the year of 2006 the heat within two weeks caused 655 deaths and in 1995 over 700 people died due to excessive heat in Chicago. Hot weather kills more Americans than any other despite disasters. Global warming also means 650 million people who live on or near land will be threatened by sea level rise. In the article “20 Countries Most At Risk From Sea Level Rise” it shows that “147 to 216 million people live on land that will be below sea level or regular flood levels by the end of the century”. This means that more than 200 million people may die because of global warming. In addition, people are more likely to get sick because of temperature changes. Most of the bugs like warm temperature especially the bugs like mosquitoes and flies. People always get bite by mosquitoes in summer, but can rarely see mosquitoes on winter or fall. Therefore global warming would cause summers become longer these insects like mosquitoes can keep active for longer seasons and also in wider areas. Insects like mosquitoes have capable of carrying and transmitting diseases like Dengue Fever which greatly increasing the risk of people to get sick. Rising temperatures are more likely result in
Global warming may increase the risk of some infectious diseases, like malaria, dengue fever, yellow fever, and encephalitis. These diseases are spread by mosquitoes and other insects, and could become more common if a rise in temperature allows those insects to live farther north. Also, the increase in rainfall that is likely to occur with an increase in global temperature would serve to help increase the reproduction of the vectors. In February 1999, Britain's Institute of Animal Health linked outbreaks of the lethal horse fever virus in Africa to the El Nino phenomenon. The warming and increase in rainfall in Africa caused by El Nino led to many more horses being bitten by infected vectors. The scientists said their research shows this pattern is likely to happen with other vector-borne diseases when global warming occurs. Increased temperatures could also reduce the gestation periods of disease vectors, which could aid the breeding of strains resistant to pesticides. Scientists also hypothesize that algae
Climate change may be the “biggest global health threat of the 21st century.”1 As with many future events that are hard to predict, people disagree about the ultimate nature and extent of climate change. But many observers expect … that rainfall patterns will change; that extreme weather events will become more frequent; that sea levels will rise, with increased flooding in coastal areas; and so forth. The other articles in this issue show that such changes may have serious repercussions for children and families
Rising temperatures and increased Co2 levels in the atmosphere have increased the growing season and caused plants to produce more pollen then usual. “Marked increases in asthma and wheeze-related ED visits have been linked to high pollen concentrations in several studies” (Bernsetein and Rice, pg. 2). Global warming will also increase the likelihood of natural disasters such as floods and hurricanes increasing the spread of contagious diseases such as respiratory viruses and an example of this is Hurricane Katrina. Even though the chances a person is infected with these contagious diseases is slim because these natural disasters only affect a certain segment of the population they are still important because they have a high mortality
The global climate has increased by approximately 0.6°C over the last 100 years (Walther et al. 2002). This increased rate of changes is largely due to humans: the industrial revolution, the advancement of technology and burning of fossil fuels (Timmermann et al. 1999). This human involvement has gradually changed the natural order of the environment and many of its processes. Some of these environmental conditions are not easily predictable, as these climatic changes are also increasing more extreme weather events such as: droughts in the savannah country, floods in low lying areas and an increase in intensity of cyclonic events (Knutson et al. 2010).
In the introduction of Thomas Gale Moore’s essay, he states that “Threats of global warming are bringing on a plague… infestation we speak of is a plague of misinformation, infecting the public consciousness and blurring the issue of the effects of climate change on human health in a swarm of anxiety and confusion”. One of his sources states that “global warming is not the current problem. It is a collapse in public health measures, an increase in drug resistance in parasites, and an increase in pesticide resistance in vector
In the years following the turn of the 20th century, climate change is creating new public health challenges. The Environmental Protection Agency cites heat waves, extreme weather events, reduced air quality, and climate-sensitive diseases among the threats to human health that are associated with climate change.
"We call them dumb animals, and so they are, for they cannot tell us how they feel, but they do not suffer less because they have no words” (Anna Sewell). There is undeniable evidence that animals are being affected by climate change. Even though the effects are difficult to measure, there are many different ways animals are being affected. With the loss of predator and prey species it affects the life cycles in the food chain. The earth’s climate change causes habitats such as snow, ice, or forest areas to alter, resulting in loss of habitat and food accessibility as well as causing extinction.
The ability of populations to survive and reproduce in specific environments are measures of adaptability (Dobzhansky, 1970). So when environmental conditions change, polar bears have an increase in environmental stressors. Rapid climatic warming may change the diversity of pathogens in polar bear populations. Pathogen diversity is the variety of viruses and diseases being spread in a population. Climate change exposes the Arctic species to new pathogens. The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) has a crucial role in vertebrate immune systems (Weber, et al., 2013). According to Follman, Heuffer, and O’Hara (2011), living in the Arctic is a way the polar bears avoid such pathogens. However, slight environmental temperature shifts can translate
The rising rates of cholera due to climate change will most likely be due to a number of factors. I will be investigating two of them in this paper. The first is the increase in both air and sea temperatures. Examined next will be sea level rise and the impact this will have on populations, such as coastal flooding, increased storms, available drinking water, and the destruction of infrastructure.
Due to climate change both the land and the marine distribution is changing, causing numerous problem for human beings. The direct impact of climate change is on the food availability due to redistribution of species, since the areas that are suitable for crop production will either become too dry or will be under water creating a shortage of food worldwide. Animals are migrating to new areas to increase their survival chance, making it difficult for humans to access the same food that they once had before the migration. Fishes are the best example of species shift, due to climate change, the water temperature is rising causing the fishes to travel deep down into the ocean where it is cooler. As the fish travels further down, harvesting fish will become expensive causing economic crises eventually affecting the human well-being. On the other hand, the changing climate change is also posing new health risks for humans, such as some countries are now suffering from malaria, a disease transmitted by mosquitoes. Due to a rise in worldwide temperature, mosquitoes can travel to numerous suitable places. An indirect effect of climate change will be the stress that the plants are facing now. Because of lack of trees on land, the carbon dioxide rate in the atmosphere is increasing which is raising the temperature and melting the tundra region, thus raising the water level. Because of climate change, humans are encountering various problems that can only be solved if the governments take initiative and find a solution for the situation. If world leaders wait any longer, a major catastrophic situation can occur that will dramatically affect human
1Biodiversity Institute and Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, United States of America
Since 1880 (when reliable record keeping began) the Earth’s average temperature has increased by 0.8-1.0 degree Celsius. At this small amount of warming familiar global weather patterns are being disrupted, the polar and greenland ice sheets are melting, storms are more intense and frequent and tropical diseases are spreading into higher latitudes and altitudes.