12.9 Climate Change


What I find most troubling about climate change is that the U.S pulled out of the Paris Climate Agreement and we will not be part of the global effort to reduce the causes of climate change.  As a public health professional, greenhouse gases emissions by companies need to be kept in check and constantly monitored as they are the ones emitting the most gases. Mitigation needs the greatest attention right now as we can see extreme weather patterns happening in the U.S and around the world.

I would describe climate change to a long-lost relative first as what climate change is. There are pollutants like CO2, NO, and fluorinated gases that are released into the air by fossil fuels, coal, oil, gas. This pollutants are used as energy by industrial processes for transportation, fuel, and electricity. These pollutants are known as greenhouse gases. The greenhouse gases emitted from these industrial processes act like a blanket in the ozone layer of the atmosphere, trapping the sun's heat. This causes the earth to heat up because greenhouse gases prevents the heat from going out into space. Too much heat on the earth means that temperature rises causing ice caps in Antarctica to melt which results in sea levels rising. This is what is known as Global Warming.


Climate change is a threat to human health in all parts of the world. For people in developing countries who contribute the least greenhouse gases unfortunately suffer the worse consequences because of what wealthier countries are producing. In the U.S, the human health threat is greatest for minorities in low income communities. Many of these people, suffer from pre-existing health conditions like heart disease and diabetes which experience worsen symptoms from extreme heat. People with asthma and COPD have greater likelihood of respiratory problems from ozone, smoke from wildfires, and more pollen in the air. During climate-related disasters, people with electric medical devices, wheel chairs, medications, and physical and mental disabilities are most vulnerable.
Ecological threats include, the extinction of animals like polar bears, extreme weather patterns, like Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Maria and the Earthquake in Mexico and Iraq. We need to switch from the dirty energy we still use to 100% clean renewable energy for our future and the future of our environment.

    References:
    http://climatehealthconnect.org/resources/physicians-guide-climate-change-health-equity/
     

Comments

  1. KrissyNovember 27, 2017 at 7:06 PM

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  2. Krissy PamatmatNovember 27, 2017 at 7:08 PM

    Hi Mayra,

    I wasn't aware that the U.S pulled out of the Paris Climate Agreement so I'm glad you mentioned it in your post. I don't understand why our leader would do that when climate change is a very important issue that needs to be address. I agree that companies that are emitting greenhouse gases need to be regulated and monitored by the government. I like how you described climate change and discussed how climate change can affect people's health.

    - Krissy

    ReplyDelete

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