Global Climate Change: Health Risks and Preventive Strategies

By Dr Nik Nor Ronaidi bin Nik Mahdi

Content

1. Summary of global climate change2. Possible risks to human health3. What are the main risks to human health / health

impact?4. Action taken previously and currently to prevent /

mitigate the health risks / health impact 5. Possible actions to prevent /lessen the health

impact related to global climate change6. Roles for doctors and other health professionals to

reduce health risk

Summary of global climate change

What is weather?

•Weather is the state of atmospheric conditions (i.e., hot/cold, wet/dry, calm/stormy, sunny/cloudy) that exist over relatively short periods of time (hours to a couple of days).

•Weather includes the passing of a thunderstorm, hurricane, or blizzard, and the persistence of a heat wave, or a cold snap.

What is Climate?

•Climate is the weather we expect over the period of a month, a season, a decade, or a century.

•More technically, climate is defined as the weather conditions resulting from the mean state of the atmosphere-ocean-land system, often described in terms of "climate normals" or average weather conditions.

Weather and Climate

Climate Change is…• Any significant change in measures of climate

(such as temperature, precipitation, or wind) lasting for an extended period (decades or longer).– When due to natural processes, it is usually referred to as global climate

variability– Usually refers to changes forced by human activities that change the

atmosphere

Global warming is…• …the increase in the average surface air

temperature of the planet that is a result of the buildup of heat-trapping or "greenhouse" gases in the atmosphere.

Climate Change or Global Warming?• The term CLIMATE CHANGE is often used

interchangeably with GLOBAL WARMING.• The phrase 'climate change‘ is growing in

preferred use to 'global warming' because it convey there are other changes in addition to rising temperatures.”(National Academy of Sciences)

Climate Change Is Happening Now. • Warming of the global climate is clear and is

shown by – increases in global average air and ocean

temperatures,– widespread melting of snow and ice– rising global average sea level– the 10 warmest years on record have all occurred

since 1990.

How do we know?

Scientists learn about the past climate conditions from such things as tree ring analysis, fossil evidence, and analysis of patterns and chemical composition in coral skeletons and ice cores.

What causes Earth’s climate to change?

Natural causes:• Variations in the Earth's orbital characteristics. • Atmospheric carbon dioxide variations. • Volcanic eruptions • Variations in solar output.

Anthropogenic: Human activities – any activity that releases Human activities – any activity that releases

“greenhouse gases” into the atmosphere“greenhouse gases” into the atmosphere

The Greenhouse Effect• The Earth receives ultraviolet (UV) radiation from

the sun, absorbs it, and then radiates the energy out as infrared radiation

• The Earth is warmer because our atmosphere traps some of the outgoing IR radiation. This is a natural process known as the greenhouse effect.

• The greenhouse effect is a good thing, without it the Earth would become too cold for life to exist.

• However, man’s activities appear to be altering the natural balance.

Greenhouse Gasses• Greenhouse gases are atmospheric gases that trap infrared

radiation emitted from the earth.

• Most of the significant greenhouse gases are long-lived and well-mixed:

• Long-lived means they are chemically stable and therefore last years in the atmosphere

• Well-mixed means they are evenly distributed in the atmosphere.

• This family includes carbon dioxide, methane, oxides of nitrogen, and halocarbons.

• Water vapor is a greenhouse gas that is neither well-mixed nor long-lived. Because of this, its overall effect on global warming is the least understood.

Greenhouse gases

Nitrous oxide

Water

Carbon dioxideMethane

Sulfur hexafluoride

Possible risks to human health

Health effects

Temperature-relatedillness and death

Extreme weather-related health effects

Air pollution-relatedhealth effects

Water and food-bornediseases

Vectorborne and rodentborne diseases

Health Effects

Temperature-relatedillness and death

Extreme weather-related (floods, storms, etc.) health effects

Air pollution-relatedhealth effects

Human exposures

Regional weatherchanges

•Heat waves•Extreme weather•Temperature•Precipitation

Regional weatherchanges

•Heat waves•Extreme weather•Temperature•

•Sea-level rise

Contaminationpathways

Transmissiondynamics

----rodent

Microbial changes:

Contamination paths

Transmission dynamics

Water and food-bornediseases

Vectorborne and borne diseases

Climate ChangeClimate Change

Changes in agro-ecosystems, hydrology

Socioeconomic and demographic disruption

Effects of food and water shortages

Mental, nutritional,infectious-disease and other effects

Modulating influences

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