Hot Topic, Health Hazard
It is easy to imagine the effects of global warming – glaciers melting, changing weather patterns – as the thermometer passes the 100°F mark this summer.
After a year of incongruous weather, it is safe to say that few doubt the existence of climate change. Anthony Costello, director of the University College of London’s Institute of Global Health, references a Stanford University study that shows skeptics of global warming comprise at most 3 percent of the community. That said, we are only beginning to discover the lasting impact of our changing climate.
If we reach the high end of climate model predictions, the earth could warm by 7 degrees by 2100, way beyond the heat endurance of humans and mammalians. But even before that, and taking the middle of model predictions, the effects would be profoundly felt: food and water insecurity, heat stress, communicable diseases, population migration, and deaths from extreme climatic events.
But even with this dour look into the future, there is a dearth of hard, measurable evidence to show the health effects of this change. As Onome Akpogheneta notes in her piece, evidence to reflect climate change effects on mosquito-borne diseases has not kept pace. So, too, is the case with climate migration.
And Kathleen Mogelgaard of Population Action International talks about how women are disproportionately vulnerable to climate change, and how we need to address population growth.
Come with us through this summer issue, as we turn the prism on climate change and look at its effects on health. Also, remember, the discussion continues through blogs in the online edition of the magazine at
www.globalhealthmagazine.com.
The Editors
