Global Warming Health Impacts

7/29/2019 Global Warming Health Impacts

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Global Warming and HumanHealth

How our planet is warming and its

direct effect on the human race

By Carolyn Vasko


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What isglobal warming?

Global warming is a marked and extended

change in the Earths climate for the warmer

Climate change is an extended change in the

Earths regular pattern of atmospheric

conditions and its fluctuations

Global warming is caused by an enhanced

greenhouse effect caused by human activity


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What isthe greenhouse effect?

The greenhouse effect is caused by thetrapping of heat in the Earthsatmosphere

First the Suns high frequency rays ofradiation enter into the Earthsatmosphere in the form of visible light

Next the Earth absorbs these rays andradiates them back into the atmosphereas infrared radiation, or heat

Since the Earths atmosphere includescertain gases which even in smallamounts can absorb infrared radiation ,gases such as methane, carbon dioxide,

fluorocarbons, and nitrous oxide, theinfrared radiation is trapped by thesegases and can not escape the Earthsatmosphere

Lastly, as the Earths atmosphere trapsmore and more heat the Earthsatmosphere begins to increase thetemperature of the Earth itself


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What causesan enhanced greenhouse effect?

The greenhouse effect is caused by human activities which produce the greenhouse gases;carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and fluorocarbons

Carbon dioxide is the main greenhouse gas and is produced by fossil fuel burning powerplants, heating systems, factories, and modes of transportation that burn fossil fuels.Deforestation adds to the problem since most forest remove carbon dioxide fromthe atmosphere in order to produce food through photosynthesis.

Methane is another greenhouse gas produced by human use of land, including thelivestock we use and such agricultural objects as rice fields, wetlands and marshes

Nitrous oxide is produced by the exhaust of cars, human disposal of waste andhuman use of nitrogen-based fertilizers

Fluorocarbons are gases which are emitted when humans use their refrigerators andtheir air conditioners

Humans produce 30 billion tons of carbon dioxide annually, 300-350 million tonsof methane, and 7-13 million tons of nitrous oxide, a drastic increase from evenfifty years ago


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How do we knowglobal warmingis

happening?

In the top graph at the right we can

see the rising levels of carbon

dioxide in the atmosphere as

measured in parts per million in the

atmosphere, measurements havingbeen taken on the island of Mauna

Loa, Hawaii

In the bottom graph at the left can be

seen the rising temperatures on theplanet over the past years


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Global warming and Human Health

Global warming will affect human health in a numberof different ways

The spread of infectious diseases will be affected Agriculture will be affected

Extreme weather patterns will be affected

The amount of smog near the ground will be affected The supply of freshwater available to humans will beaffected


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The infectious diseases

Infectious diseases can be carried by many differentorganisms, among them are ticks, flies and mosquitoes.

When the climate becomes warmer such organisms calledvectors such as ticks, flies and mosquitoes can breed easier inthe warmer wetter climates.

As climate change begins to affect our planet to a greaterextent the infectious disease carrying organisms will be able toreach higher altitudes and will have a longer season ofbreeding, increasing the likelihood of a human being in contact

with the disease Also, as the climate warms the amount of algae and fish that

produce toxins poisonous to humans will increase


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The infectious diseases

Malaria can affect 45%of the worlds

population today but ifglobal warming

continues at the rate that

it is progressing, that

number could change tobe 60% of the worlds

population
http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/content/vol315/issue7111/images/large/mcm13jna.f2.jpeg


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The infectious diseases Malaria is a parasitic disease borne by

mosquitoes which on reaching thebloodstream causes blood cells to rupture,causing a fever, chills and anemia in thevictim and potentially resulting in deathwithin hours

Viral encephalitis is another diseasecarried by the mosquito and the tick andwhich results in an inflammation of thebrain that can result in a brainhemorrhaging as well

Leishmaniasis is another parasiticdisease carried by the sand fly which caninfect the human body, namely the lymphnodes, the spleen and the bone marrowand which causes the body to become

susceptible to disease as it attacks theimmune system and can result in deathdue to complications that arise

Lyme disease-is carried by ticks and is adisease commonly found in NorthAmerica, a disease which can result incomplications involving the heart andeven the nervous system


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The infectious diseases Cholera is a parasitic disease

which can cause death fromdehydration as it causes excessivediarrhea

Dengue fever is transmitted bymosquitoes and causes fevers,joint and muscle pain, andheadaches.

Schistomalaisisis a parasiticdisease in which the parasiteburrows into the body and then

infects the organ literally of itschoice.

Cryptosporidiosis is a disease that,like Cholera causes excessivedehydration especially in smallchildren as a result of diarrhea.


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Human Health and Extreme Weather Patterns During global warming there is a

potential for an increase in thenumber of heat related deaths asthere is a potential for an increasein the number of extremely hotdays

Extreme heat can bring about heat

cramps due to a lack of waterwhich can lead to heat strokewhich can then lead to organfailure and even death

The elderly and the very youngare particularly susceptible to

extreme climates A study done in Canada suggeststhat the number of people whowould die heat related deathswould increase from 70 annuallyto 240-1140 people by 2050, andthat only in the city of Montreal


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Human Health and Extreme Weather Patterns

A study done in relation to the city of NewYork shows that the number of people who dieheat related deaths annually there wouldincrease to around 1,700 people annually alsoby only 2050

Also, there a potential trend for morehurricanes when the temperature of the seasincrease because hurricanes are fueled bywarm ocean waters

Although the actual number of hurricanes maynot increase as a result of global warming, it istheir intensity that is thought to increase, or

their potential energy

As a result of an potential increase in theintensity and thus possibly the amount ofdamage many hurricanes could be capable ofdoing, insurance agencies who are paying forincreased amounts of damage due to hurricanescould even go bankrupt as a result


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Human Health and Agriculture

A good part of the world and its countries rely on agricultureas their main source of income and of food In a first scenario precipitation is expected to increase due to

global warming, meaning that many crops will receive toomuch water and will be drowned as fields flood due to a

projected rise of 40 centimeters in sea level In a second scenario the amount of evaporation is expected to

increase due to global warming, meaning that even more cropswill die due to a lack of water

For many countries this change could mean death, in fact that

projected number of starving people worldwide is expected tobe 40-300 million people in addition to the 600 million alreadyprojected to be starving in 2060


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Human Health and Water Supply

Due to global warming the amount of annualprecipitation and the amount of ice converted tofreshwater from the polar ice caps is projected to

increase A rise in sea level is projected for 2100 of as much as40 centimeters

This rise in sea level could not only destroy human

dwellings and human places of agriculturalproduction but could also destroy many sea-sideaquifers which would deplete the general watersupply for humankind


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Human Health and Air Conditions

Due to global warming, the amount of smog that iscreated by nitrous oxide, or ozone that is near the

ground, will increase

An increase in the amount of smog near the groundlevel could potentially result in fatally warm summer

days for those humans sensitive to such gases

As gases such as smog enter human lungs, they canincrease the potential of lung infection which can lead

to death


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What else is affected byglobal warming?

Coral reefs- As the sea level rises the more and more coral reefs are beingkilled as they are subjected to cooler, darker waters

Greenland- The country of Greenland, a good percentage of which is madeup of ice, is likely to melt significantly should global warming continue,causing sea levels to rise significantly and drowning many coastalcommunities

The polar ice caps- As global warming continues the polar ice caps aremelting with speed and are diminishing all over the globe, causing manyanimals who inhabit the same areas as these polar ice caps to loose part oftheir habitats

Weather patterns- Weather patterns will greatly be affected by globalwarming as the weather must take into account a warmer climate

Wetlands- As sea levels rise due to global warming the number of wetlandsdiminishes as they are drowned by the rising waters


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Predictions for the future:

The Hadley Center for Research on Climate Control has madea number of predictions about the future of climate change andits results by the 21st century, such as the following;

The surface temperature globally will have risen at an averageof 3.2 at a minimum of .3 worldwide The mean dailyprecipitation will have increased by .2 millimeters globally

The mean soil moisture will have decreased by a mean of 2millimeters of moisture globally

The sea level will have decreased by a mean of .42 metersglobally

The volume and area of artic sea ice will have dramaticallydecreased


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How can we help to stop/what is being

done to stopglobal warming?

One way people can help to stop global warming is by using alternate forms of energy that arenot using up fossil fuels, products that create greenhouse gases when they are used

Some of the forms of renewable energy that have been suggested as alternatives are windenergy and solar energy

Another way we can stop global warming is by attempting to take greenhouse gases out of theatmosphere such as carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, through techniques such ascarbon sequestration

There are four main ideas for carbon sequestration; to store carbon dioxide in the ground, tostore carbon dioxide in the ocean floor, to increase the abilities of certain plants and animalsto take in carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and to look at the genome sequences of certainplants and animals who produce methane, hydrogen, or help to store carbon dioxide

Already a number of different projects are being done such as by Eric A. Davidson and NeilScott of the Woods Hole Research Center who are attempting to increase the carbon

sequestration capacity of certain trees The company Statoil, the State Oil company of Norway, is also already setting limits on howmuch carbon dioxide they can produce and are keeping their emissions at that level byinjecting any extra carbon dioxide their company produces into the sea floor off the coast ofNorway


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How much do you know? (A short quiz)

What causes global warming? Why does itcause global warming? (Slides 2-4)


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What are two of the infectious diseases thathave a potential for becoming more prominent

as a result of global warming? (Slides 9-10)


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What is one natural disaster that could becomepotentially more harmful to humans due to

global warming? How would it be harmfulphysically? Financially? Economically? (Slide

12)


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How is it that global warming could cause thesea level to become lower while it could also

cause the sea level to rise in certain areas ofthe world?


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What are some other ways that anyone at homecould help to reduce carbon emissions?


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The End(But not of global warming)

(See http://www.classroomencounters.org/formore details)
http://www.classroomencounters.org/http://www.classroomencounters.org/

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Global Warming Health Impacts