Climate change is a major threat to human health, with extreme heat likely to kill 27,000 Americans annually by 2100 according to a report released Monday by the White House.
Global warming will lead to heat waves so extreme that in the hottest times of the year, it will be “physiologically impossible” for people who work outdoors to do their jobs, John Holdren, a science advisor to the Obama administration, said during a news conference about the report. Most states, particularly high-risk states in the South, are poorly prepared to deal with such changing conditions.
By the end of the century, climate change will kill tens of thousands of people every year in the U.S. because of disease, more extreme heat waves, tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, winds, lightning, cold snaps and winter storms, the report said. The report also says climate change will threaten public health by increasing the severity and frequency of existing health problems and by posing unprecedented health problems — such as the spread of tick-borne diseases like Lyme disease — in places where they have never occurred before. As temperatures warm, mosquito-born illnesses such as West Nile virus, malaria and dengue fever could also spread throughout the U.S., sickening and killing Americans in the process. Air quality is expected to decline because of increased ozone pollution and a greater number of severe wildfires, leading to worsened allergy and asthma conditions and deaths.
This will obviously impact
all U.S. individuals as well as our economy. For those who rely on outdoor work for income, they face conditions that could kill them or may become unable to provide a living due to the inability to work. This change disproportionally affects low income and minority groups, who already struggle. Extreme heat will also lead to worsening air pollution, expose more people to waterborne illnesses, leave the American food supply vulnerable to a greater number of toxins, and will potentially devastate the U.S. healthcare infrastructure as it becomes exposed to extreme weather.
The impact on agriculture will be immense. Increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide reduces the concentrations of proteins and minerals in some plant species, reducing the nutritional value of produce like wheat and rice. Extreme weather could also severely damage America’s food distribution infrastructure, leaving people without access to nutritional food. By the middle of the century we can expect to see large declines in wheat production, according to Tom Brakefield. It is also projected that at this rate, by 2080 all sustainable climates to grow Arabica coffee could dissapear. Dairy products, peanut butter, apples, grapes, chocolate, and salmon will all be severely affected by this climate change. Other food products will also undoubtedly face a shift as they will be grown in unfavorable climates with people being unable to work on them or face life threatening conditions.
With much of the economy dependent on food exportation and domestic sale of food, our economy will undoubtedly be shaken. There will be a loss in jobs due to decrease in production of food, and less workers will be able to work due to extreme conditions. This will lead to a drop in GDP as the multiplier effect takes place. There will be less money spent as less money will be made, so all industries will face repercussions. Food items will become more expensive, so more income will be spent on food and less can be spent in other areas. Food service industries will also be threatened.
It seems obvious that many changes need to be made in order to stop the current trajectory that we are on. It will require sacrifice, however we all need to set goals to make personal modifications and get more involved to prevent disaster. What can you do? Educate yourself. Make an effort to be involved with legislature involving environmental change. Pay attention to what is going on in the world. Vote. Make environmentally sound choices. Don’t ignore the issue; the problem is bigger than we realize but our generation has the power and intelligence to make a huge impact.
