Dear Senator Stabenow and Representative Lawerence:
Hi my name is Desirae and I'm a future public health professional. I appreciate and thank you for the important work you've done across our nation to ensure the preservation of our environment for future generations to come. I am writing to express my concern about the threat climate change poses to public health,
As you know climate change is real and must be addressed, and is happening all around us. With the rapid acceleration of climate change over the years, it has led to an ongoing global concern, and public health issue. Climate change has already had observable effects on the environment, with the shrinking of ice glaciers, warmer weather, trees flowering sooner, more frequent wildfires, more variable weather, and longer duration and intensity of tropical storms. The attribution of climate change is a contributing factor in natural events; typhoons and hurricanes, such as Hurricane Harvey, which feeds off unnaturally warm waters to deliver more forceful threats to human health, including to life itself.
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As a future public health professional I have realized that climate change has began to impact human health in various ways such as increased spread of vector-borne infectious diseases, increased respiratory illnesses that are associated with increased air pollution, and childhood cancer. The CDC states that the effects of climate change varies across geographic regions and populations, which has led to the help of CDC’s Climate and Health Program in helping state and city health departments prepare for the specific health impacts of climate change that their communities will face. There are still quite a few health departments that do not have a strategic plan in motion to deal with local health impacts of climate change, which is a huge
Climate change is on the international policy agenda primarily because of warnings from scientists. Their forecasts of a potentially dangerous increase in the average global temperature, fortuitously assisted by unusual weather events, have prompted governments to enter into perhaps the most complicated and most significant set of negotiations ever attempted. Key questions - the rapidity of global climate change, its effects on the natural systems on which humans depend, and the options available to lessen or adapt to such change - have energized the scientific and related communities in analyses that are deeply dependent on scientific evidence and research.
Climate change has become of the world’s major issue today. The earth’s climate is always changing in a very fast and also in different ways. Climate changes affect our lives psychologically, emotional and also physically. Climate change is defined as a long term change in the earth’s climate, especially a change due to the increase in the average atmospheric temperatures. Due to this change in temperature, a lot of changes has occurred in our environment, these changes include rising sea levels, flooding, melting of polar ice caps, hotter days, colder nights and heat waves. These climate changes plays an important role in shaping our natural ecosystem, our human economics and also the most important, it affects the human race. For
Planet Earth is under attack by the very entities charged with its protection. Human beings are systematically destroying the planet and are deaf to its, so far, relatively subtle warnings. When temperatures rise by just a fraction of a degree, or yearly precipitation amounts increase by just an inch or two, these changes can be imperceptible. However, when these small changes accumulate after a period of years they can result in natural disasters that are uncommon to certain geographic areas. Ocean temperatures have steadily been on the rise for years. These changing temperatures have the potential to irrevocably change weather patterns for the entire world. In August of 2011, Hurricane Irene gave much of the east coast of the United States a taste of what changes in global weather patterns can do. The hurricane showed many communities how vastly underprepared, and unequipped they are to deal with such a storm, and it served as a wake up call to the human race, to take better care of the planet. A case study of these realizations can be viewed through the prism of severe weather related events at the Humane Society of Ocean City.
The causes of climate change are also known to them that though it is not only the human action playing role but it is the main cause of climate change. The effects of climate change does include harm and loss of environment and organisms but it also has impact on the human health. Semenza (2014) displays an assessment report which states that throughout the 21st century, the rapidly occurring climate change will lead to increase in number of humans with ill health in many regions mainly in those of developing countries where citizens face low income. Semenza (2014) also mentions how there are physiological limits to intense heat exposure and the global climate change will turn some parts of the world which are currently highly populated into uninhabitable even if the global temperature rises by 7 degrees Celsius. Johnson (2014) states how El-Niño-related hydroclimate variability will lead to being intensified under global warming mainly in areas as southern Asia which are already stressed by different droughts, floods, and crop yields. Dettinger, Udall, and Georgakakos (2015) mentions how climate change puts risk and threat on water resources in the western United States to an extent that no other part of the country matches it. Dettinger, Udall, and Georgakakos (2015) also states how recent research and studies strictly point a limited number
Climate change is not often the sole cause of increases in the burden of climate sensitive health outcomes, but it interacts with other public health stresses. The increasing extent and rate of climate change means it is expected to be a major health...
Global climate change and its apparent effects have been the subject of much discussion for a number of years. It is often claimed that this change is too advanced and the damage caused by it is irreversible, meaning that any efforts by us to undo this are in vain. Although I agree that our planet has become unalterably changed, I don’t entirely concur that this change is now completely beyond repair.
I found your article titled “Climate Change and Infectious Disease” to be insightful and provide depth on the issue of climate change. Climate change might not have seemed to raise concern in the past or have an impact on the profession of nursing, but can we say that is the case today? In your article, you identified not only the issue with climate change, but its impact on human health and how it leads to the spread of infectious disease. My objective of writing this letter to you is to support this article and relate it to how it impacts nursing. Climate change impacts nursing because of its ability to spread infectious disease such as streptococcus pneumonia, influenza and tuberculosis. It causes difficulty in trying to contain the spread to patients and their family members (Parkinson & Evengård, 2009). The occurance of natural disaster leads to inadequate housing and santication, which in turn, affect the development and spread of respiratory and skin infection caused by bacteria, viral and parasitic
...duct research and assessments on the projected impact of climate change in order to increase resiliency, adaptability, improve infrastructure, and implement these type of plans into the National Infrastructure Protection Plan and the Strategic National Risk Assessment (CNA Military Advisory Board, 2014). Strategic planning for the potential impact of climate change should also consider the water-food-energy nexus, which is essentially the linkage between water and energy for food production (agriculture and livestock) and is incredibly important because it increases global food security (CNA Military Advisory Board, 2014). It is also notable that rising sea levels can impact defense infrastructure in many ways including reliance on surrounding communities, transportation, energy, and port facilities, ultimately hindering response (CNA Military Advisory Board, 2014).
Due to climate changes, we are a “gradual and uncertain rather than immediate and obvious” process, we as humans cannot understand it (Jamieson, 102). In addition, climate change effects have no geographical bounds and because very few people pay attention to events that occur beyond national boundaries, most people are oblivious to its existence. Jamieson makes the point that climate change must be thought rather than sensed, and we as humans are not very good at thinking (Jamieson, 103). On top of that, even if we succeed in thinking that something is a threat, we are less reactive than if we sense that it is a threat. Since we cannot even comprehend climate change's presence in our world right now, it also makes it extremely difficult for us to comprehend how our anthropogenic actions of today will affect future generations all over the world.
Ebscohost. Web. 10 Apr. 2015. Summary: The article explained that climate change has an impact on human health. Climate change increases six public health concerns such as heat-related health problems, respiratory problems, infectious diseases, waterborne diseases, food insecurity, and mental health problems.
Over the years, there has been a clear increase in extreme weather events, mainly hurricanes, floods, heatwaves, droughts, and earthquakes. These incidents directly correlate with the rising temperature over the years. Ever since the 1980s “[the] surface temperature records have continued to rise” (Source 2). There is a clear correlation between growing temperatures and dangerous weather episodes. Climate change not only occurs due to increasing temperatures, but “thanks to the dramatic rise in CO2, temperatures have been soaring to record levels” (Source 2).
The World Health Organization predicted that climate change has caused over 140,000 deaths per year since 2004. These deaths are being caused by malnutrition, malaria, diarrhea, and other illnesses. A 2010 study was done by the U.S Interagency Working Group and they discovered that as the planet warms infectious diseases could become more common, such as: deaths caused by heat and respiratory problems from allergens and smog (Williams 26). To prevent these things from happening scientist are trying to find ways to stop the warming temperatures. A plan that scientist have come up with so far is to suck the Carbon Dioxide out of the air.
(Gillaspy, 2003) Hypothetically speaking, Jim see an apply he wants from his tree. Jim’s two options are to grab a ladder and pick the apple he wants, or to grab an ax and cut the apple tree down. Like many of us, Jim only see his immediate need and decides to go with his second option of cutting the tree down to get access to more than just one apple. However, what Jim neglected to consider is that he just jeopardized the future of his tree to bear fruit for himself or others. Likewise, world health organizations argue that the existing climate change due to man’s contributions of environmental imbalances will affect the ability to maintain god health for future generations. Health care organizations should take climate change seriously. Climate change is a constant growing cause of limited food and resource availability, which contributes to malnutrition, and pollutions which assist in the spread of harmful waste, affecting normal human development. Therefore upcoming nurses like myself and other medical teams, should bring awareness of these and other health hazards that may be affecting climate
Climate change is an inevitable phenomenon that is being experienced globally in various forms, such as temperature rise. Sea level rise, droughts, floods, hurricanes, landslides, etc. According to the fourth assessment report of the IPCC project, even with immediate implementation of mitigation strategies, global climate change will continue for decades. Climate change is inflicting serious consequences on human wellbeing and will continue to inflict damage in the future. It is estimated that global temperature will rise by 1.8 oC - 4.0 oC by the end of the 21st century (Izaurraade, 2009).
Climate change is a serious problem and the effects can clearly be seen through new and extreme weather. I think that many people have under estimated climate change, because they automatically associate it with global warming and do not believe that it is real. However, it is a huge and growing concern. Climate change is an accepted scientific consensus proven by a large amount of data. The first step to impacting climate change is to change this mistaken view. By stressing the amount of evidence showing that climate exists, the need to work to reduce it will become apparent. Then, actions can be made to slow climate change. Climate change is largely influenced by human activities and the production of greenhouse gases. By reducing the world’s carbon foot print, the effects of global warming will become less extreme. Currently, global warming is melting the polar ice caps, causing a threat to humans leaving in tropical and coastal islands. However, these effects can become e...