Climate Change's Impact on Human Health

Ever since the 1960s, the world has seen an occurrence of natural disasters to nearly triple resulting in over 60,000 deaths annually (WHO). Most of these deaths appear in developing countries as they are equipped with insufficient means to fight against such catastrophes. These disasters vary from extreme precipitation, floods, droughts and wildfires.

Because rainwater is now most commonly acidic due to pollution, extreme precipitation contaminates the fresh water supplies that those in developing countries desperately need for nutrition and growth. This is also caused by floods and could lead to higher water-borne diseases as it creates the optimal breeding ground for pathogen hosts. Floods can also cause numerous destruction of infrastructure, especially in countries that are unable to afford structure that are able to withstand natural disasters. Infrastructure that are affected can vary from houses, medical facilities, farms, and other essential services that they need for survival (WHO).

At the other end of the spectrum, with extreme heat, comes with droughts and wildfires, which are detrimental to the human health. With occurrence of droughts, the production of food stagnates. This is extremely pressing especially for developing countries, most of which rely on agriculture as their food staple and source of income. With the deterioration of the production of food, malnutrition increases, which is reported to be the cause of 3.1 million deaths annually (WHO). With droughts and high temperatures, wildfires are bound to occur. The smoke the emits from the fires contain carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and other organic compounds that can significantly decrease the air quality (CDC). With a reduction in air quality and a prolong exposure to smoke, humans with respiratory and cardiovascular diseases are more susceptible to life threatening health issues.