THE CLIMATE AND HEALTH IMPACTS ON HUMANS

Severe weather any dangerous meteorological phenomena with the potential to cause damage, serious
social disruption, or loss of human life. 

Air pollution mixture of solid particles and gases in the air. Car emissions, chemicals from factories, dust,
pollen and mold spores may be suspended as particles.

Vector biology, broadly defined, is the science devoted to studying insects that transmit pathogens,
their contact with humans, and their interaction with the disease-causing organisms.

extreme heat Temperatures that hover 10 degrees or more above the average high temperature for the
region and last for several weeks.

Environmental degradation is the deterioration/ Destruction of the environment.

Infrastructure, food, and water

 Natural disasters can lead to technological disasters

 power outages), breakdowns in the water, sewer, and other infrastructure, or urban fires.
 disruptions in other types of services (e.g., cell phone communication, transportation, or waste
management)

Severe and changing weather

 Periods of higher-than-normal heat result in higher rates of heat exhaustion, heat cramps, heat
stroke, hospital admission for heart-related illnesses, and death

Respiratory issues and allergens

 exposed to ozone air pollution, which is emitted mostly by cars and industrial facilities and is
intensified by warmer temperatures,
 Asthma
 Strokes or heart attack
 Hotter and drier summers increase the frequency and intensity of large wildfires that contribute
to smoke inhalation.

Fetal and child development

 Climate-driven physical stress on mothers can cause adverse birth outcomes.

 preterm birth and low birth weight
 developing fetuses are at particular risk from air pollution, heat, malnutrition, infectious
diseases, allergies,

Water and food supply

 can lower crop yields

 reduce the nutritional quality of food
 interrupt distribution chains, and reduce access to food because families lose income.
 Increase food cost

General fitness

 Increased average temperatures and decreased air quality also lead to changes in the type of
activities that people engage in, particularly outdoor activities and recreation.
 increased rates of obesity and cardiovascular disease.

IMPACTS ON INDIVIDUALS
ACUTE IMPACTS

Trauma and shock

 psychological trauma from personal injury, injury or death of a loved one

 damage to or loss of personal property (e.g., home) and pets, and disruption in or loss of
livelihood
  More recent reviews concluded that acute traumatic stress is the most common mental health
problem after a disaster (Fritze, Blashki, Burke, & Wiseman, 2008).

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

 depression, general anxiety, and suicide all tend to increase after a disaster
 PTSD is more likely among those who have lost close family members or property (Wasini, West,
Mills, & Usher,

Compounded stress

 stress to our everyday concerns.

 climate-related stress is likely to lead to increases in stress-related problems, such as substance
abuse, anxiety disorders, and depression
 worry about future disasters and feelings of vulnerability.

CHRONIC IMPACTS

Loss of personally important places

 people forced to migrate from their home environment.

 Loss of relationship to place is a substantial part of this. As climate change irrevocably changes
people’s lived landscapes
 increasing migration

Loss of personal and occupational identity

 Losing treasured objects when a home is damaged or destroyed

 This is because objects help provide a continuing sense of who we are, particularly objects that
represent important moments.

Helplessness, depression, fear, fatalism, resignation, and ecoanxiety

 fear of extreme weather approaches the level of phobia and the “unrelenting day-by-day
despair”
 impacts of climate change unfold, and worrying about the future for oneself, children, and later
generations, may be an additional source of stress