The Impact of Climate Change on Human Health

The Impact of Climate Change on Human Health

The impact of climate and weather on human health are varied and significant. Exposure to health risks linked to changes in climate affect different communities and several people in varying degrees. The effect of climate change is often assessed individually. However, exposure to various threats related to climate change happens simultaneously, leading to cascading or compounding health impacts. Cyberspace is one of the areas that provide a lot of information regarding climate change and its effect on human health. One cyberspace platform that gives an in-depth assessment of the impact of climate change on human health is EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), a U.S. based organization (“EPA”). Even though people have presented different views regarding the reality of climate change, the literature obtained from EPA website offers several pieces of evidence to support the reality of climate change and its impact on human health but lacks ethical standards after the introduction of Trump’s America’s First Energy Plan.

EPA presents that with changes in climate, the duration, severity, location, and frequency of climate and weather phenomena changes (“EPA”). Some of the presented climate and weather phenomena include droughts, heavy rains, and rising temperatures, among other kinds of severe weather. This suggests that regions facing health-threatening climate and weather phenomena, such as hurricanes and heat, are likely to withstand the increased intensity of the storm, high temperatures, storm surge, and rainfall rates. The interpretation is that these areas will face new-climate related health risks. It is argued that climate affects human health by changing the frequency or severity of health problems that are already affected by weather or climate factors; and by creating unanticipated or unprecedented health threats or health problems in new areas.

One particular climate effect on human health outlined by EPA is temperature-related deaths. The websites allege that increasing greenhouse gas concentration leads to an increase in both extreme and average temperatures. The likely result from this aspect is that there will be an increase in the number of illness and deaths from heat and a potential decrease in deaths resulting from cold mostly for vulnerable categories of population to changes in climate such as the elderly, children, and economically disadvantaged groups (“EPA”). Specifically, hotter days than average summer seasonal temperature or colder than the winter’s average temperature leads to increased levels of death and illness by compromising the average ability of the body to control its temperature or by indirect or direct health problems. Loss of ability to manage internal temperature often leads to a cascade of illness including hyperthermia in case of extreme heat, heatstroke, heat exhaustion, heat cramps, and frostbite and hypothermia in case of extreme cold. In this view, climate change is linked to many health complications and deaths.

Also, the EPA website presents that climate change has air quality impacts, which ultimately affect human health (“EPA”). The claim is that changes in climate affect the air people breathe outdoors and indoor. The constantly changing weather patterns have altered the patterns of weather, which has transformed the location and levels of outdoor air pollutants, including delicate particulate matter and ground-level ozone. Also, the increasing amount of carbon dioxide leads to growth in plantations that release airborne allergens. The shifts in the quality of the outdoor air and aeroallergens also affect the quality of air indoor as both aeroallergens and pollutants infiltrate schools, homes, and other buildings. Concisely, poor quality of air, whether indoors or outdoors, can affect the human cardiovascular or respiratory systems negatively.

Another surprising justification of climate change from the EPA website is the projection showing that there will be a rise in the severity and occurrence of extreme events. It is suggested that by the end of the century, extreme events will increase while in other areas, climate change will remain uncertain. In the United States, some regions have already experienced expensive costs regarding economic damages and loss of lives. This notion is based on the observed shifts in intensity, frequency, and duration of particular, extreme events. Though it is innate that severe occurrences may result in health effects, including injuries and deaths as such events occur, health effects can happen before or after such events. Besides, the consequences may be felt outside the location where they have occurred, damaging properties, infrastructure, and loss of assets. These may also affect the quality of the lives of people affected.

Despite the extensive evidence presented by EAP regarding the reality of climate change, Donald Trump, through a political process, has compromised the ethics of the EAP website. Before his election, Trump announced his energy plan titled “America First Energy Plan,” which paid no consideration to the use of renewable energy (Toumey, 2017). Most countries in the world have begun the process of using renewable energy, as advised by scientists, to control climate change. One aspect that notes how the Trump administration attempted/compromised the ethical standards of the EAP website is that they have rewritten the EPA’s pollution-control policies. Some critical areas the administration has rewritten include that on chemicals considered to cause serious health risks, specifically, to benefit the chemical industry. One analysis conducted in 2018 presented that the policy imposed by climate change may lead to more than a million Americans experiencing health problems per decade. Thus, the ethical standards of the EPA website are compromised by the Trump administration.

NASA has disputed the information published in EPA’s website by Trump administration. Through their website, NASA claims that climate change is a scientifically proven phenomenon and cannot be ignored (Sahu & Kumar, 2018). The argument by NASA further presents evidence indicating that the ethical standards of EPA’s website are compromised. People working for NASA have expressed the fear they have regarding the use of the term global warming as the current administration may cut funding of essential projects. However, NASA is one of the leading research organizations in space and climate change. They have conducted several scientific types of research showing that climate change is real. Thus, the information published on EPA’s website degrades the ethical standards of the cyberspace.

Concisely, over the years, various scientific studies have proven that climate change is real and is catching up with almost all parts of the world. Moreover, the information regarding climate change has been published across different cyberspace platforms. One such platform is EPA. It has outlined many effects of climate change on human health. Some of such effects include affecting air people breathe and increase in temperature. However, Trump administration has compromised the ethical standards of the platform by amending some parts to dilute efforts being made to control the climate.