How Will Climate Change Affect Your Health?

Unless you have been in a coma for the last 6 months to a year you would have heard all of the climate change commentary. We can't escape it and what is becoming more evident is it will affect you directly. It will place restrictions on your lifestyle and the generations to follow. It is alright to talk about it but how can you do your bit to help?

That is up to you and I'm not going to rant about how you should be helping. But I am going to illustrate the consequences of yours and my actions in relation to climate change. Firstly if you don't think climate change has already done much damage look at these major occurrences.

• European heat wave, 2003: Estimates suggest that approximately 70 000 more people died in that summer than would have been expected.
  Rift Valley fever in Africa: Major outbreaks are usually associated with rains, which are expected to become more frequent as the climate changes.
• Hurricane Katrina, 2005: More than 1 800 people died and thousands more were displaced. Additionally, health facilities throughout the region were destroyed critically affecting health infrastructure.
• Malaria in the East African highlands: In the last 30 years, warmer temperatures have also created more favourable conditions for mosquito populations in the region and therefore for transmission of malaria.
• Epidemics of cholera in Bangladesh: They are closely linked to flooding and unsafe water

Although not solely attributed to climate change the World Health Org predicts that these types of changes and occurrences are expected to occur more frequently due to climatic changes and pressures.

For us here in Australia the Doctors for the Environment Australia have released a Climate Change Health Check 2020 that states by 2020 doctors will be seeing increased cases of heat stress, infectious and allergic diseases, respiratory problems and mental illness associated with prolonged drought and other natural disasters. So next time you hear someone say climate change won't affect them; explain it to them will you - please!!