It’s getting warmer – the effects of climate change are increasingly noticeable. The changes in the environment, climate and weather are also affecting us humans and our health. Heat-related deaths, spreading tropical diseases, and malnutrition are just a few examples of the health-threatening risks of climate change. Find out how global warming and health are linked in this article.
Healthy Earth, Healthy People
Planetary Health describes the interrelationship of planetary conditions and health. The interrelationships are extremely complex and arise from ecological, political, economic and social systems. However, the focus is on ecosystems. Only a healthy environment is a healthy basis of life for us humans. We are part of nature; our well-being depends on it. However, our earth is sick – it has a fever. Rising temperatures are also increasingly affecting our daily lives and health.
Pathogens on a world tour
Globalization is also eroding the boundaries of health issues. Tropical medicine no longer plays a role only in remote Amazon regions. Humans are penetrating further and further into the habitats of other animal species and thus coming into contact with new pathogens, which they take back home and distribute further there. Corona is an example of a virus that has spread from animals to humans and then around the world. But other infectious diseases are also expanding their geographic and temporal occurrence, so that ticks and mosquitoes are active in ever larger areas and over longer periods of time. The years from 2011 to 2020 inclusive were about 2° Celsius warmer than the decades when weather records began in 1881. Rising temperatures allow pathogens and their vectors to multiply more easily, so diseases such as malaria and cholera continue to spread and affect new geographic areas. In 2019, for example, there was the first case of West Nile fever in Europe. We humans are increasingly traveling around the world, and viruses and bacteria with us.
The air we breathe...
We need air to breathe, no question about it. However, as climate change progresses, air quality is declining. The burning of fossil fuels leads to particulate matter and pollutants in the air. We absorb these through our respiratory system, increasing the risk of diseases such as COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), chronic bronchitis or lung cancer.
In addition to pollutants, pollen is also increasingly present in the air, which means that more and more people are affected by allergies and the pollen seasons are expanding, so that allergy sufferers are exposed to the symptom-triggering stimuli for longer periods of the year. The phenomenon is self-reinforcing, as the increased pollen concentration favors the spread of the corresponding plants.
Heat and health
The epitome of global warming is rising temperatures and increasingly frequent heat waves. When it is warm, the body dilates the blood vessels to cool down and sweats out a considerable amount of the water contained in the body – blood pressure drops. As a result, the heart has to pump harder, the organism is strained, and it is not uncommon to experience headaches, dehydration, dizziness, and even fainting, heat exhaustion, or heart attack. In 2022, there were around 4,500 heat-related deaths. People 65 and older, as well as infants and people with chronic illnesses, are at particular risk. In addition to the physical symptoms, heat also demonstrably increases aggression and the propensity for conflict and violence. Living together becomes more strenuous and unpleasant. The heat also poses many other dangers, such as forest fires, water shortages, droughts, crop failures and so on. Climate change brings with it far-reaching consequences that we must join forces to counter.
Climate crisis in the head
Most people have probably heard about the physical consequences of climate change. What is often neglected, however, are the psychological risks that arise from the climate crisis. On the one hand, there are acute triggers such as natural disasters that lead to trauma, depression, anxiety disorders or loss of home. On the other hand, more and more people are plagued by severe worries about the future and experience eco-anxiety, i.e. a fear due to the impending effects caused by climate change. This is not an exaggerated reaction, but a normal feeling in the face of a real threat.
The solution is a win-win situation
The idea of the solution is simple: if the Earth is doing well, we humans are doing well. Therefore, we should take care of our environment and take action against climate change. Both politicians and individuals are called upon to do this. Responsibility for the climate crisis cannot be shifted back and forth. Everyone must do their best to protect the planet and themselves. The environment, animals and humans all benefit from this. Climate-friendly behavior therefore means health-friendly behavior.
