Climate change and its effects on health

Editor's Notes

• #5: The term ‘Global warming’ is one aspect of the broader term ‘climate change’.
• #9: INCREASE IN TEMPERATURE MID 20 TH CENTUARY
• #10: Calculations of global warming prepared in or before 2001 from a range of climate models under the SRES A2 emissions scenario, which assumes no action is taken to reduce emissions and regionally divided economic development.
• #11: Global average temperatures are expected to increase by about 2-13°F (1-7°C) by the end of the century. That may not sound like a lot, so what’s the big deal? The problem is that small changes in global average temperature can lead to really large changes in the environment. Let’s look at some of the expected changes.
• #13: This map of mountain glacier mass balance changes since 1970 shows thinning in yellow and red, and thickening in blue. Mid-latitude mountain ranges such as theHimalayas, Alps, Rocky Mountains, Cascade Range, and the southern Andes, as well as isolated tropical summits such as Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa, are showing some of the largest proportionate glacial losses
• #16: Global sea level change estimated using tide gauge measurements collated over long periods of time to give a long-term average. More recently, altimeter measurements — in combination with accurately determined satellite orbits — have provided an improved measurement of global sea level change. dated coral reefs that grow near the surface of the ocean, coastal sediments, marine terraces, voids in limestones and nearshore archaeological remains. The predominant dating methods used are uranium series and radiocarbon, with cosmogeni radionuclide being sometimes used to date terraces that have experienced relative sea level fall.
• #18: Changes in the type of pollen found in different layers of sediment in lakes, bogs, or river deltas indicate changes in plant communities. These changes are often a sign of a changing climate. studies have been used to track changing vegetation patterns throughout the Quaternary glaciationsand especially since the last glacial maximum
• #19: Natural changes in the components of Earth's climate system and their interactions are the cause of internal climate variability, or "internal forcings.
• #20: One global climate model's reconstruction of temperature change during the 20th century as the result of five studied forcing factors and the amount of temperature change attributed to each.The popular media and the public often confuse global warming with ozone depletion, i.e., the destruction of stratospheric ozone by chlorofluorocarbons.[75][76] Although there are a few areas of linkage, the relationship between the two is not strong. Reduced stratospheric ozone has had a slight cooling influence on surface temperatures, while increased tropospheric ozone has had a somewhat larger warming effec
• #25: Increasing  atmospheric  concentrations of greenhouse gases.2) Global changes to land surface, like deforestation3) Increasing atmospheric concentrations of aerosols.
• #26: [Image 1] Earth’s surface absorbs heat from the sun and then re-radiates it back into the atmosphere and to space. [click, Image 2] Much of this heat is absorbed by greenhouse gases, which then send the heat back to the surface, to other greenhouse gas molecules, or out to space. Though only 1% of atmospheric gases are greenhouse gases, they are extremely powerful heat trappers. By burning fossil fuels faster and faster, humans are effectively piling on more blankets, heating the planet so much and so quickly that it’s hard for Mother Nature and human societies to adapt.
• #28: India comes under a non-annex country
• #29: While no significant long-term trend has been observed in the frequencies of large-scale droughts or floods in the summer monsoon season and the total frequency of cyclonic storms that form over Bay of Bengal has remained almost constant over the period 1887-1997At the same time, it may also be admitted that as per the Geological Survey of India, glaciers worldwide are passing through a phase of recession as a natural cyclic process.
• #32: PRECIS simulations for 2020s, 2050s and 2080s indicate an all-round warming over the Indian subcontinent. Figure 10 shows the mean annual surface air temperature from 1961(fi rst year of model simulation) to 2098 (last year of model projections) as simulated by PRECIS. Data indicates that Q14 simulations are warmer than the remaining two simulations. The annual mean surface air temperature rise by the end of the century ranges from 3.5°C to 4.3°C
• #33: mainly because of emissions of greenhouse gases caused by human activity.
• #38: As a result of climate change, heat waves are expected to increase in severity and frequency, particularly in the northern latitudes
• #39: Increased ambient temperatures over land and increased ground-level carbon dioxide concentrations, both of which are expected with climate change, result in increased plant metabolism and pollen production. These factors may also be associated with increased fungal growth and spore release.  There is also a possibility that certain aeroallergens may become more allergenic as temperatures and CO2 concentrations increase
• #41: For instance, as temperature increases, the malaria parasite reproduces at a higher rate, and mosquitoes take blood meals more frequently, up to a certain ceiling determined by individual speciesSocial and cultural behaviors also affect disease transmission. Many VBZD exhibit some degree of climate sensitivity, and ecological shifts associated with climate variability and long-term climate change are expected to impact the distribution and incidence of many of these diseases. For instance, the range of Lyme disease is expected to expand northward as the range of the deer tick that transmits it expands. In another example, the frequency of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome outbreaks, caused by human exposure to the virus in deer mice urine or feces, may change with increasingly variable rainfall in the desert Southwest, which affects the populations of deer mice and other rodents through changes in production of the pine nuts on which they feed. Similarly, certain VBZD may decrease in particular regions as habitats become less suitable for host or vector populations and for sustained disease transmission. Coastal and marine ecosystems will be particularly impacted by increasing temperatures, changes in precipitation patterns, sea-level rise, altered salinity, ocean acidification, and more frequent and intense extreme weather events. These changes will directly and indirectly affect ocean and coastal ecosystems by influencing community structure, biodiversity, and the growth, survival, persistence, distribution, transmission, and severity of disease-causing organisms, vectors, and reservoirs. Also of concern for both terrestrial and aquatic/marine ecosystems is the loss of biodiversity (which underlies ecosystem serviceOzone is formed in warm, polluted air in the presence of sunlight; are generated by a range of sources, but primarily from the burning of fossil fuels.
• #42: This is a significant concern in molluscan shellfish, because ocean acidification may affect formation of their carbonate shells and immune responses, making them more vulnerable to microbial infection
• #43: These indirect impacts are likely to result in degradation of fresh water available for drinking, washing food, cooking, and irrigation, particularly in developing and emerging economies where much of the population still uses untreated surface water from rivers, streams, and other open sources for these needs Even in countries that treat water, climate-induced changes in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events could lead to damage or flooding of water and sewage treatment facilities, coastal storm surges from less than 50 million at present to nearly 250 million by 2080A rise in sea level affects agricultural productivity, crop failure, malnutrition, starvation, increasing population displacement, & resource conflict
• #51: Here are examples of 8 technologies that could save 8 billion tons, or 8 wedges, of carbon. Some of these we could do right away, while others are based on technologies still being studied, such as capturing and storing carbon.[Details on strategies:Efficient vehicles: Double car fuel efficiency in 2055 from 30 miles per gallon (mpg) to 60 mpgReduced vehicle use: Halve the miles traveled by the world’s cars in 2055Efficient buildings: Cut emissions by 25% in all buildingsCCS electricity: Capture and store carbon from 800 large coal power plants or 1600 large natural gas power plantsTriple the world’s current nuclear capacitySolar electricity: Increase solar capacity 700 times Forest storage: Halve global deforestation and double forest planting in 50 yearsSoil storage: Apply carbon management strategies to all of the world’s farm fields]This list represents only some of the possible strategies, but choosing strategies will not be easy. However, the longer we wait to reduce emissions, the higher the target will need to be, and the more adaptation will be necessary. In 2004, when the wedges concept was first introduced, the target was only 7 billion tons.
• #54: for public health agencies...to help dem develop strategies and programs to confront the health implications of climate change
• #57: A fair and effective response will require a sharing of responsibilities between the populations that make the greatest contributionto climate change and those that are most vulnerable to its effects, inorder to safeguard and enhance global public health security