Five ways we’re killing ourselves with climate change

[xchrom]

http://grist.org/climate-energy/five-ways-were-killing-ourselves-with-climate-change/

?w=470&h=265&crop=1

***SNIP

There are five main ways in which climate disruptions can lead to injury, illness, and death:

1. Extreme heat. “Heat kills people, and it sends thousands of people to emergency rooms because climate change fuels longer and more severe heat waves,” says Kim Knowlton, a scientist with NRDC’s health and environment program and an author of the Human Health chapter of the NCA. “There will be 10 more days over 100 degrees for the entire country on average from 2021 to 2050,” notes Liz Perera, a federal climate policy analyst at the Sierra Club. “The interesting thing there is that regionally there’s actually quite a distribution difference. It will be worst in the Southwest, Southeast, and Great Plains.” Those, of course, are already the places with the harshest summers. The U.S. has recently seen its worst heat waves in history, and increasing casualties as a result. A study published in the journal Epidemiology found, for example, that in July 2006, “California experienced a heat wave of unprecedented magnitude and geographic extent … Coroners attributed 140 deaths to hyperthermia, and it has been estimated from vital statistics data that in excess of 600 heat-related deaths may have occurred over a 17-day period.” The study also found that climate change is causing worse humidity to accompany heat waves, making them more unpleasant and dangerous.

2. Extreme drought and rainfall. Overall, warmer temperatures will mean more evaporation and more water shortages. This will be especially true in the already-dry Southwest, where they are currently experiencing an intense, multi-year drought. Droughts can unleash a cascade of other effects. “Drought conditions may increase the environmental exposure to a broad set of health hazards including wildfires, dust storms, extreme heat events, flash flooding, degraded water quality, and reduced water quantity,” reports the NCA. But more evaporation can also lead to more intense rainfalls, leading to flooding, property damage, drowning, and deaths from other causes, such as people being cut off from emergency medical services. “The hospital where I was born in Binghamton, N.Y., was flooded in 2006, and they had to evacuate it,” notes Knowlton. Shutting down a hospital “really has effects on people’s health.” A heavy storm can also overwhelm a city’s sewage treatment facilities, forcing it to dump untreated water into the nearest river. That, in turn, increases everyone’s exposure to waterborne bacterial diseases like diarrhea. This doesn’t just mean more hilarious movie scenes. “A Minneapolis hospital showed an increasing outbreak [of diarrhea] among children after extreme precipitation events,” says Perera. It sucks enough to be hospitalized as a kid, but then imagine getting hit with a miserable, potentially deadly stomach bug on top.

3. Agriculture and food security. Paying more for your margarita because of the lime shortage will be the least of your problems. Increasing extreme weather and more unpredictable precipitation are terrible for farmers. “Many crop yields are predicted to decline due to the combined effects of changes in rainfall, severe weather events, and increasing competition from weeds and pests on crop plants,” reports the NCA. “Livestock and fish production is also projected to decline. … Americans with particular dietary patterns, such as Alaska Natives, will confront shortages of key foods.” As food production declines, food prices will rise — and so will food insecurity. “In such situations, people cope by turning to nutrient-poor but calorie-rich foods, and/or they endure hunger, with consequences ranging from micronutrient malnutrition to obesity.” Even some foods themselves will become less healthful: “Elevated atmospheric CO2 is associated with decreased plant nitrogen concentration, and therefore decreased protein, in many crops, such as barley, sorghum, and soy.”