A Human Health Perspective On Climate Change - The Oceans and ...

A Human Health Perspective ON CLIMATE CHANGEIntroductionalso directly increases the risk of injury, illness, and death, as well asindirectly by contributing to illnesses such as those associated withmental health and stress. 15Global climate change is visibly and profoundly affecting oceans,which in turn, affects human health. The warming of ocean waterscontributes to increases in incidence and severity of toxic algalblooms, alterations in aquatic and estuarine food webs and seafoodquality and availability, and effects on sentinel aquatic species 16 .High concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increasethe amount that is dissolved into the ocean, leading to acidificationand disruption of ecosystems. As large portions of the world’spopulations, including those in the United States, live in coastalareas, and many depend on marine protein for daily subsistence, theconsequences of perturbing delicate ocean and coastal systems willbe far-reaching.Climate changes including increased heat in certain arid andsemi-arid parts of the United States can dramatically alter existingecosystems, presenting new challenges to agricultural productionand coastal ecosystems, with consequences for food quality andavailability. Changes in plant habitat can result in reduced availabilityof grazing lands for livestock. 17 Climate changes also are directlyassociated with many pest habitats and disease vectors, and changesin temperature can extend or reorient habitats such that organismsare introduced to new geographic areas or life cycles are altered,requiring increases in pesticide use or use in new areas to achievethe same yields. Global warming is also causing shifts in the rangesof disease vectors that require specific environments to thrive (forexample, Lyme disease), 18 and increasing the threat and incidence inhumans of waterborne, vectorborne and zoonotic (those transferredfrom animals to humans) diseases.No current mitigation strategy or technology can prevent thechange in climate that has already occurred. At present, our abilityto mitigate the magnitude of the climate changes that will occurover the next 100 years is limited by the current makeup of theatmosphere, as well as what we can prevent from entering and whatwe are able to remove from the atmosphere in the future. The majortargets of climate change mitigation strategies include alternativefuels and energy conservation, changes in land use patterns, sustainabledevelopment of the built environment, and carbon captureand storage. 19 Switching from fossil fuels and other greenhouse15 Noyes, PD, et al., Environment International, 2009. 35(6): p. 971-986.16 United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Commerce Science and Transportation. 2003, Washington: U.S.G.P.O. ii. 8 p.17 Ericksen, PJ, et al., Environmental Science and Policy, 2009. 12(4): p. 373-377.18 Estrada-Peña, A, Environ Health Perspect, 2002. 110(7): p. 635-40.19 Haines, A, et al., Lancet, 2006. 367(9528): p. 2101-2109.gas-emitting energy sources to cleaner alternatives and using carboncapture and storage technologies will slow the rate at which werelease greenhouse gases into the environment. Energy conservationand modifications in energy use will also reduce releases. Land usechanges such as restricting the destruction of forests and replantingmore trees will serve to increase natural carbon storage.Actions to preserve other ecosystem services, such as flood controlby protecting wetlands or vector control by conserving biodiversity,can also reduce the severity of climate change-related problems. 20Finally, changes in building codes, transportation infrastructure,housing density, coastal development, and other urban planningstrategies can reduce energy usage and thereby mitigate someportion of climate change. Through these changes in humanactivities and practices, we should be able to limit the magnitude ofthe changes to the planet’s climate, and thus, reduce the negativeimpacts to human health. Though it is possible that some mitigationstrategies may exacerbate known human health stressors orintroduce unanticipated potential for human harm, many strategieswill provide co-benefits, simultaneously reducing the negative effectsof climate change while also reducing illness and death. For example,reducing harmful air pollutants generally decreases global warmingbut is also just more healthful to people. 21Recognizing that there are a broad set of issues related to bothpotential benefits and possible adverse effects on human healthresulting from mitigation and adaptation strategies, the IWGCCHdid not attempt to outline research needs for mitigation and adaptionin a comprehensive manner in this report, nor provide a comprehensiveoverview of mitigation and adaptation approaches. These issuesand their associated research needs will have to be evaluated in thecontext of the individual options and strategies. Instead, this reportfocuses on some of the broader mitigation and adaptation optionsthat are currently under development that have the potential toprovide great benefits to human health and proposes research needsthat could inform decisions relating to them, and examples of mitigationand adaptation needs related to certain health consequences areincluded within each chapter.Adapting to or coping with climate change will become necessaryin the United States and around the world. Most adaptationstrategies seek to change the human environment and decrease thepotential for illness and death by helping to prevent some of theworst consequences of climate change. The primary environmentalfactors targeted for adaptation are water security and food security.20 Corvalán, C, et al. 2005, [Geneva, Switzerland]: World Health Organization. 53 p.21 Smith, KR, et al., Lancet, 2009.6 www.niehs.nih.gov/climatereport