During the Climate Crisis, Healthcare

 One of the main reasons for serious illness and mortality worldwide is the climate issue. Extreme weather conditions, such as heat stress, deteriorating air and water quality, disruption of food safety and security, and ecosystem disruption that leads to the introduction of zoonotic illnesses, cause a healthcare crisis.

What is climate crisis?

A prolonged change in weather patterns and the temperature of the environment is considered a climate catastrophe. An changed solar cycle has the potential to naturally bring about these changes. However, human actions like burning fossil fuels are a major contributor to the climate catastrophe (oil, gas, and coal).

Burning fossil fuels releases greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide and methane, which trap solar heat in the atmosphere and raise the earth's temperature. Energy-related systems, industry, transportation, households, agriculture, and human land use are the main sources of greenhouse gas emissions.

The earth is now 1.1°C warmer than it was in the late 1800s as a result of the climate problem. The last ten years have seen the greatest increase in earth's temperature (2011 – 2020). Severe droughts, limited water supplies, wildfires, rising sea levels, flooding, melting glaciers, catastrophic storms, poor air quality, and decreasing biodiversity are only a few of the primary effects of the climate catastrophe.

According to a United Nations (UN) assessment released in 2018, limiting global warming to 1.5°C will help prevent the worst effects of the climate crisis. However, according to environmental scientists and experts, the world will warm by 2.7°C by the end of the century.

How may the climate crisis impact healthcare?

There are several facets of the climate issue that have the potential to directly impact human health and well-being in general.

Global warming

It is now well established in the literature that a rise in global temperature of more than 1.5°C will have long-term effects on healthcare. Over the past 20 years, the number of senior adults over 65 who have died from heat-related causes has climbed by 50%. Dehydration, cardiovascular, lung, and kidney conditions, allergies, pregnancy-related concerns, tropical infections, skin malignancies, and mental health issues are just a few of the harmful health effects of extreme heat. People who are particularly susceptible to the impacts include young children, elderly adults, people with comorbidities, members of ethnic minorities, and those from lower socioeconomic status.

Since 1981, global warming has resulted in a 1%–5% decline in crop yield. This has led to a sharp rise in population-wide malnutrition. Additionally, the widespread devastation of environment, including ecosystems and species, has had a significant negative impact on water and food security. The likelihood of pandemics has been greatly elevated by these climate change-related factors taken together.

Wildfire

Wildfire is another another negative impact of the climate catastrophe. Summers are now hotter and drier as a result of changes in rainfall patterns brought on by global warming. Summertime soil water evaporation increases the amount of combustible vegetation that can quickly set woods on fire. In addition, the availability of wildfire ignition sources, such as extremely hot weather and lightning strikes, is increasing due to climate change.

Healthcare is impacted by wildfires both directly and indirectly. Exposure to fires as a result of participation in wildfire incidents poses a direct threat. Burns, accidents, heat-related illnesses (such as heat cramps from dehydration and heatstroke), trauma, various mental health conditions (such as post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and insomnia), and even death are among the direct repercussions.

In terms of secondary consequences, those who live close are affected by a variety of eye issues brought on by smoke from wildfires. The most frequent issues are vision loss, corneal abrasion, and eye discomfort.

Significant air pollution is yet another negative effect of smoke from wildfires. Particulate matter, carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds, and ozone are the most frequently produced air pollutants.

Asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and respiratory infections are all made more likely by the particulate matter produced by wildfires. Due to its considerably smaller particle size and high oxidative component content, evidence suggests that particulate matter from wildfires is more harmful and fatal than that produced by urban sources. Cardiovascular problems and pregnancy-related difficulties are two additional short-term impacts of wildfire particulate matter.

Air pollution

The increase in ground-level ozone and particulate matter brought on by air pollution brought on by climate change has a significant impact on healthcare. Increased air pollution is linked to worsened lung health, more hospital admissions, and a higher risk of dying young. It has been estimated that the combined impacts of ozone and particle matter will result in between 1000 and 4,300 more premature deaths nationally per year by the year 2050.

Allergen exposure     

Pollens and other airborne allergens are more prevalent in the atmosphere as a result of climate change. A variety of allergic reactions, including allergic rhinitis, which affects more than 60 million Americans each year, can be brought on by pollen exposure. The most typical symptoms include runny nose, congestion, and sneezing.

Exposure to pollen can also result in allergic conjunctivitis, an eye irritation marked by red, watery, and itchy eyes. People who have asthma or other respiratory conditions may experience more severe pollen allergies. These allergies may increase the number of hospital admissions and asthma attacks.

Vector-borne diseases  

Changes in the patterns of transmission of vector-borne illnesses including dengue, malaria, chikungunya, yellow fever, Rift Valley fever, Japanese encephalitis, etc. are directly linked to the climate crisis. Additionally, the spatial and seasonal distribution of disease-carrying vectors is impacted by a variety of factors, including changes in land use, pest control, access to healthcare, socioeconomic and cultural factors, and human reactions to disease risk (mosquitoes, ticks, fleas, etc.).

Infectious illness transmission is extremely susceptible to even a small change in climate, land use, the variety of animal hosts, and human behaviors that encourage vector-human contact.

References:     

Climate change and health. 2021. World Health Organization. Available at: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/climate-change-and-health

What is climate change? 2021. United Nations. Available at: https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/what-is-climate-change

Climate effects on health. 2021. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/climateandhealth/effects/default.htm

Xu, R. (2020). Wildfires, Global Climate Change, and Human Health. The New England Journal of Medicine. https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsr2028985

Atwoli, L. (2021). Call for Emergency Action to Limit Global Temperature Increases, Restore Biodiversity, and Protect Health. The New England Journal of Medicine. https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMe2113200 

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By A. Moiz