Climate change and health inequality in low-income Australian communities

Introduction
Fundamentally, primary health care is purposed to address social, cultural, and environmental health determinants. To effectively achieve this, it is imperative to gain extensive and proper insight into how these determinants affect the health of populations. Undoubtedly, socioeconomic status is one of the key social health determinants, whereas in recent years, due to adverse climatic conditions, climate change has also become a key environmental health determinant (Durkalec et al., 2015). However, there is a knowledge gap amongst health workers concerning the correlation between climate change and social poverty levels and how they significantly impact health statuses in Australia. This report aims to comprehensively assess the intersection between the social and environmental impacts of poverty and climate change as a significant determinant of health for Australians in low socioeconomic groups. This report is to be given to the Federal Minister for Health to facilitate increased and sufficient acquaintance of this issue to the staff. Climate Change in Australia In Australia, climate change has become a significant problem affecting the nation since the onset of the 21st Century (Burton, 2014). For instance, since this time, the nation has experienced a rise of approximately 1 degree Celsius on average every year. Also, the level of warming in Australia has been twofold in the past five decades as compared to the preceding five decades (CSIRO, 2018). In recent times, climate change has instigated exceedingly high-temperature levels and prevalent drought. For instance, in the past 30 years, rainfall in the south-west region has been deteriorating by more than 10 percent. Furthermore, the patterns of precipitation are anticipated to be problematic and increasingly challenging because rainfall is becoming progressively more substantial and intermittent. Even worse, reliable sources of water for populaces inhabiting the south-east region of the nation have exhausted as a result of mounting levels of population, thereby causing heightened demand, worsened by climatic change aspects like an incessant and protracted drought in Australia (CSIRO, 2018).
Fountain (2020) indicates that climate change affects Australia's latest damaging wildfire, making the tremendously high-risk situations that resulted in prevalent burning with a 30 percent greater likelihood compared to a world devoid of global warming. Research has indicated that Australia is becoming progressively hotter year after year and that the nation will face more severe heatwaves and patterns as well as lengthier wildfire periods due to climate change. According to CSIRO (2018), rises in temperatures reported across Australia during all seasons and during both the day time and night time, demonstrate warming. The change to a climatic condition that is warmer in the nation is concomitant with more austere everyday heat events. The highest warm monthly, as well as seasonal temperatures, have been recorded in the past years, caused by climate change. Undoubtedly, the recent rise in adverse climatic conditions such as flooding, droughts, and also bush fires have all been associated with climate change (CSIRO, 2018).
The effect of climate change in Australia is bound to differ substantially in the various regions. Arid conditions are anticipated to continue persisting in the southern region of the nation, thereby adversely impacting water supply in different cities. Diminished rainfall amounts are also bound to adversely affect the food region in Australia, which is the Murray-Darling Basin. Consequently, this expanse might become significantly more vulnerable to pests, crop infections, on top of declined volumes and quality of water. Moreover, increasing ocean temperatures and also acidity will have a permanent destructive effect on the pivotal marine ecosystems, comprising of coral reefs and also adversely affect fisheries. Ultimately, regional food security problems will have severe implications for Australia (Australian Academy of Science, 2015). The Intersection Between Climate Change and Poverty In the present times, more than 2 billion people, which is approximately just over 30 percent of the global population, are facing poverty and experiencing constant threats to their living, including climate change. Projections show that by the year 2030, over 100 million people could end up experiencing extreme poverty as a result of climate change. In contrast, an additional 200 million people could experience displacement as a result of regular and austere climatic disasters (Khoday and Ali, 2018). Across the globe, people are facing both indirect and directly severe effects of climate change. Progressively changing patterns of weather, increasing sea levels, in addition to extreme weather events, are all perceptible and overwhelming proof of a swiftly changing climate. The heightened occurrence and force of extreme weather events such as a hurricane, droughts, and wildfires are a critical threat to the food supply-chain, displace people from their homesteads, separation of families, and also ruining sources of income. These impacts cause an increase in the risk of conflict, violence, hunger, and also poverty. Apparent proof and increasing numbers show that climate change is not a far-off or made-up threat, but rather it is a mounting and irrefutable reality (Mercy Corps, 2020).
Climate change is considered to be one of the numerous determining factors of poverty, but at the same time, the impacts will signify a barrier to sustained poverty eradication. Significantly, climate impacts on poverty emanate in four interrelating ways, including prices, assets, productivity, and opportunities. Significantly, poor communities have greater exposure and susceptibility to climate change impacts through each of these ways, have diminished capacity and accessibility to support coping and adaptation (Hallegatte, Kane, and Bangalore, 2015). Climate change also facilitates an extra intricacy to the already worrying and taxing decision processes of people in low socioeconomic groups. The most perceptible climate change effects may be ex-post, but ex-ante influences on decisions regarding investment. The decision-making of people in low socioeconomic groups, who are already mentally worn out, as a result of the ongoing concerns for food, shelter, and health, is significantly dependent on environmental circumstances. Decision-making in these surroundings will be influenced in two ways. To begin with, by altering total environmental conditions and second by altering the unpredictability of environmental conditions. Climate change and poverty both progress in a vibrant and interwoven process and affects not just poor people but also those that are susceptible to fall into poverty (Hallegatte, Kane, and Bangalore, 2015).
Climate change has a likelihood of increasing poverty as a result of its impact on flooding, water resources, agriculture, health, and malnutrition. Climate change effects tend to be degenerating, falling more substantially on the poor people compared to the rich. Research indicates that climatic changes such as cyclones and floods significantly affect the coastal regions and habitats that are situated near the shores. Generally, it is the disadvantaged and low socioeconomic groups that find themselves forced to inhabit these regions because they are unable to afford to live in much safer areas. The incidence of poverty is higher in rural regions compared to urban regions with. Furthermore, owing to concentrations within the coastal regions, the low socioeconomic groups have a greater exposure level to salinity intrusion that is instigated by climate change (Islam and Winkel, 2017). Potential Health Implications for Australians in Low Socioeconomic Groups The intersection between climate change and poverty has adverse health implications for Australians in low socioeconomic groups. Climatic change is bound to cause a rise in extreme weather events, interruptions to agricultural activities, loss of livelihoods in addition to the displacement of people from their homes. Whereas climate change is bound to impact everyone, it is imperative to point out that climate impacts will worsen social and health inequities, reliant on the fundamental socioeconomic, geographic, and also health status (Friel, 2014). Climate change events such as heatwaves and are bound to cause increased mortality and morbidity due to pre-existing respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses, more so in the low socioeconomic groups and vulnerable populations like the elderly and also children. Low socioeconomic groups also lack access to sufficient and quality sources of water. Climate change aspects such as increased rainfall cause a greater rise in the entry of animals and humans into waterways. This is expected to cause an increase in waterborne and foodborne illnesses such as typhoid, diarrhea, cholera, and salmonella (Parise, 2018).
According to Sweet (2019), these harmful effects are overblown in remote locations and contribute to poor health in these remote Aboriginal communities in numerous ways. Individuals are unable to afford healthy meals, gain accessibility to or sustain housing, purchasing important medications or afford to travel to major regional centers to get surgery or medical procedures that would benefit them or their children. The adverse impacts of climate change cause increased poverty, which implies that individuals have more demanding priorities other than whether their illnesses are worsening. Research indicates that people in these low socioeconomic groups believe that health does not matter if the main priority at the time is putting food on the table or obtaining affordable housing. Being concerned about medicine or appointments to medical specialists is not a priority. Consequently, this worsens their health statuses.
Climate change, together with recent extreme weather events in Australia, for instance, wildfires and also flooding that hampered road accessibility to numerous remote communities, make it all the more challenging to achieve healthcare access. These severe weather events sweep through communities, destructing structures, and infrastructure, which also encompasses those facilitating health services. Imperatively, when the health services are burdened, it implies that it is almost impossible to provide any significant and effective healthcare. Climate change is aggravating the social and economic inequalities that are already key contributing factors to massive health inequities (Australian Academy of Science, 2015).
One of the key adverse impacts of climate change in Australia is extreme weather events. Notably, these comprise of droughts, heatwaves, floods, cyclones, and storms. These adverse events have a direct effect on the livelihoods, households, and communities, in addition to placing significant pressure and stress on the mental welfare of community members in the course of protracted events like intense heat waves. Climate change is also worsening the health statuses of the elderly in the low socioeconomic groups in addition to poor mental health. Numerous elderly Aboriginal individuals are suffering from several health issues trapped in poor housing during the regular heatwaves in Australia, devoid of any proper air conditioning. Even worse, these climatic conditions are sometimes severe to the extent that social workers and medical health teams are unable to reach such groups during times of significant need (Sweet, 2019).
Furthermore, mental health effects are also substantial. For instance, in Australia, climate change and severe weather patterns such as floods have caused the demise of livestock. This is damage, loss, and grief to low socioeconomic groups that are dependent on such livestock for their basic needs. As a result, there has been a mounting suicide crisis in low socioeconomic groups situated in the north-west region of the nation, including the Aboriginal community. Even worse, this is an expanse that is already experiencing dwindling accessibility to mental health experts (Sweet, 2019) Conclusion In contemporary times, climate change has become a progressively severe issue in the world. In Australia, climate change has caused increasing temperatures, rising sea levels, and also varying rainfall patterns. Consequently, the nation has been experiencing severe climatic events, including bush fires, droughts, and also flooding. There is an apparent intersection between climate change and poverty. Climate change effects tend to be degenerating, falling more substantially on the poor people compared to the rich. First of all, the low socioeconomic groups tend to live in areas prone to climate change events such as floods, droughts, and heatwaves. Even worse, when these events occur, they aggravate their existing circumstances causing them to have deteriorating livelihoods, forced to move from their homes, and also lack meals.
Consequently, this intersection has health implications for Australians in low socioeconomic groups. Significantly, people in these low socioeconomic groups believe that health does not matter if the foremost priority during that time is putting food on the table or obtaining affordable housing. Climate change is worsening the social and economic inequalities that are already major determining factors to massive health inequities. Due to the lack of health care, these groups experience worsening health conditions. More so, there is the implication of poor community mental health not only because of lack of care but also due to the losses and anguish experienced.

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