Climate Change and Disease Global

Climate Change and Disease

Global warming and its effect on climate change has been an environmental issue of much debate as of lately. Due to the severe nature of this problem, research has been conducted in order to establish a connection between the act of climate change and that of the spread of diseases. Because of the dramatic shifting climates in parts of the world that are used to maintaining stable temperatures, the spread of potentially hazardous diseases can essentially increase. In order to establish a solid connection between these two factors, the implications involved with the facilitation of disease spread as a direct result of the change in climate is to be analyzed.

For decades, warnings about the potential risks that ignoring environmental issues would bring had been emphasized. However, despite the numerous attempts at making the public more aware of these environmental situations, people have chosen not to pay any attention to the problem. By doing this and choosing this particular attitude toward climate change, the problems that could have been avoided had this issue been taken more seriously earlier, are now coming to light. As a result of global warming, climates have shifted in areas that are only used to receiving a particular type of weather (University of Texas). For some time, these abnormal and previously unseen shifts have been becoming more of a normal occurrence. With the normality in extreme temperature and weather shifts, comes the increased risk of infectious disease (Smith). The spread of disease has been facilitated by the development and growth of global warming.

The mechanisms involved in the process of climate change are what have been contributing to the growth in the occurrence of the spread of disease around the world. Climate change entails the sudden shifting of temperatures in areas that are not used to experiencing such a drastic change. In areas where cold and freezing temperatures used to be a normal occurrence, there are now days that freezing points are not even achieved. That means that these areas are now quite warmer than they should be. This is a recipe for the spread of diseases (Hasham).

Mosquitos are popular carriers of various illnesses, especially malaria and the West Nile Virus (NRDC). These diseased mosquitos in fact are able to travel for longer periods of time and farther distances if the temperatures allow them to. With an increase in the temperature of the areas that were once dominated by freezing weather, mosquitos are now able to travel to them quicker and stay for longer periods of time. Allowing for the further travel of the infected mosquitos means that areas that had not been exposed to mosquitos previously, are now also going to be exposed to the disease that the mosquitos are carrying (NRDC). Aside from mosquitos, other insects and bugs can also carry illnesses to other parts of the world due to the shift in temperatures.

The ability of disease-carrying cockroaches to live is also affected by climate change (Smith). Areas that are supposed to be constantly cold in order to fend off pests that may cause disease infestation are encouraged to grow and flourish. These small creatures have the ability to travel long distances and this distance travel ability is what enables the diseases to spread at a faster and more dangerous rate. When the temperature rises in parts of the world where the cold is a normal way of life, an infestation of critters looking for a new environment for themselves can occur.

Pests are not the only way that diseases are able to spread due to climate change. Because of the global trade that is enacted all over the world, diseases can spread by means of traded or exchanged goods (Rowland). A disease that was once meant to stay dormant when going from a warm climate to a much colder one, may now acquire the ability to reproduce and spread if the temperatures are not low enough anymore to prevent growth of the particular microorganism causing the illness (Smith). This can be the case for physical goods as well as food that travels between country and state borders. All this can contribute to the spread of possibly dangerous diseases to parts of the world that are not accustomed to handling and dealing with them.

As a result of the aforementioned factors, problems have developed that need to be overcome. The best way to describe this situation is by comparing the increase of the rate of infectious disease to the fluctuation in temperatures; a connection needs be established between the two. Being able to control the diseases once they have already infested areas that are not accustomed to dealing with them is the major problem that needs to be resolved. Climate change changes not only the temperatures, but the ecological state of the earth's natural resources (NRDC). A shift in this can cause for carriers of diseases to be able to sustain the life of the disease itself. Once these resources are established and the sustained growth of an infectious disease is established, it can become nearly impossible to get rid of. Once the disease has arrived, getting it under control and informing the public about the potential hazards is the main problem that needs focus.

The understanding of the severe implications that climate change has on the lives of everyone living on earth also need to be fully comprehended; a better grasp on global warming needs to be had. The problem that needs to be overcome is peoples' attitude toward environmental issues. Because these problems are seen as not directly affecting the individual themselves, the concept of global warming is many times misunderstood and severely underestimated. If the public is made aware of the implications involved and the consequences that could arise if something is not done relatively soon, this problem could be overcome.

Government programs should be established that focus solely on the consequences that climate change is having on health. With more funding going to specialties such as those previously described, much more research can be done and outreach programs could be developed as a result. If more people are made aware of the problems that could arise if climate change is not controlled or if precautions to prevent getting sick are not taken, then more individuals will start taking the topic more seriously. Education is the key to understanding. If the target population of these initiatives is children, they are more likely to grow up to make a difference in the world. They are also more likely to provide their parents with influence and sway in this topic. Allowing people to become aware of the problems that could arise should essentially make people more interested and focused on bringing a solution in order to avoid an pandemic of disease spread.