The environment and health go hand in hand. Damaging the environment damages health by increasing the transmission of pathogens, all the more reason to promote solar, wind farms and other forms of renewable energy.
A comprehensive literature review by the University of Hawaii discovered that climate change aggravates 58% of human pathogenic diseases.
The study found that climate change brings people and pathogens closer together. Global warming also increases the virulence of human pathogens, which in turn decreases the ability of humans to fight off the infection.
Although this report is alarming, the National Institute for Health (NIH) has warned about the effect of global warming for years. Famine brought on by global warming will reduce the resistance to diseases. The increase of carbon in the air reduces the nutritional value of various crops. The NIH also warns that water scarcity due to global warming increases disease transmission. The same factors may increase migration, spreading the pattern of disease. According to the NIH, the stresses of global warming may affect public health organizations and their ability to fight disease outbreaks.
Camilo Mora, the lead author of the University of Hawaii study, said, “There are just too many diseases and pathways of transmission for us to think that we can truly adapt to climate change. It highlights the urgent need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions globally.”
Please speak up and support wind and solar farms in your area.
Comments can be directed to Mike Buza at theoriginalzuba@yahoo.com