Climate change poses one of the most significant public health threats today by creating a series of interconnected impacts on human health. As global temperatures rise, heatwaves become more frequent and increase the risk of heat stroke and make cardiovascular illnesses worse. Warmer temperatures and changes in precipitation expand the geographic range of disease-carrying insects, leading to more cases of vector-borne diseases, such as Zika virus. Increased greenhouse gas emissions make air quality worse by trapping pollution and increasing allergens that aggravate respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses. Drought causes more frequent and intense wildfires, whose smoke further reduces air quality. Flooding from intense storms leads to property and infrastructure damage, mold growth, food scarcity and water contamination. Flooding can cause injury and death due to trauma and drowning and increase stress and anxiety that adversely affect mental health and wellness.
If we don’t move forward with solutions that address the severity of this crisis, these impacts will only get worse, and they will cause disproportionate harm to the most vulnerable among us.
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