Climate Change And Climate Change

During the past several hundred years, civilization has made rapid progress in industries like air travel, automobiles, and energy production. These developments were made without consideration of the long-term effects that their emissions may have on the planet. Changing weather patterns are now wreaking havoc around the world, and scientists attribute this to human-caused climate change. During President Obama’s State of the Union address in 2015, he stated that, “No challenge poses a greater threat to future generations than climate change,” (“Remarks by the President”). Warming temperatures caused by anthropogenic climate change have disastrous consequences that pose a threat to humanity and the environment.

Global warming is defined as the recent increase in the world 's temperature that is believed to be caused by the increase of certain gases (such as carbon dioxide) in the atmosphere. There are many different theories on whether global warming is similar or not to climate change. Simplistically, climate change is different because climate change is defined as a change in global or regional climate patterns or, in particular, a change apparent from the mid to late 20th century onwards and attributed largely to the increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide produced by the use of fossil fuels, having been measured over long periods of time, due to the changes in Earth’s orbit and organic carbon which reflect sunlight. Global warming and climate change are not to be confused because global warming is caused mainly by anthropogenic factors like the emission of carbon dioxide gas and use of fossil fuels whereas climate change is completely natural, however, according to Milan Radovanovic, “it is clear that the anthropogenic factors dominate the increasing temperature and the natural ones have the maximum influence…” (Radovanovic). Therefore, “the contribution to global warming from natural forcings and from natural internal variability is in the range between -0.2 to 0.2 [degrees] celsius over the period 1951-2010…” (Radovanovic). Natural factors have had the most effect on global temperature in the past 59 years totaling a 0.4 degrees celsius increase in

(WHO 2015) It is now generally acknowledged that the global climate is changing as the earth becomes warmer, in particular due to the burning of fossil fuels. Human health may be impacted by shifting the geographic range and seasonality of infectious diseases, possibly increasing vector borne disease rates, disturbance of food-producing ecosystems, and increasing the frequency of extreme weather events such as droughts, cyclones, floods and bush

Currently, one of the major problems in the world is the rapid change of our climate. Years of research and studies have linked climate change to the spreading and occurrence of many infectious diseases. Vectors and pathogens that were not able to spread to certain countries before because temperatures were too low for them to survive in are now being able to habituate these parts of the world because of how much warmer our planet is becoming. This is concerning to us because infectious diseases can increase death rates. Therefore, if our planet continues to get warmer, the more infectious diseases will spread, and the more humans will die. This research paper attempts to provide a better understanding on how diseases are spreading more

Climate change increases the possibility of extreme weather events which in turn makes disease transmission more frequent in poor, developing countries. The weather event known as El Nino has been determined to be one of the leading environmental factors that influences disease. El Nino is a band of warmer than average water, which

Unfortunately, for individuals in the developing world resources are lacking. It is individuals in these situations that are extremely vulnerable to potential exposure. Climate change is also impacting disease transmission. Large environmental areas are shrinking due to urban sprawl which is leading to increased populations density’s, increased pathogen load, decreased distributions, and a greater prevalence of disease (Mills, Gage, Khan, 2010). Thus, larger numbers of individuals are living in close proximity of disease vectors.

Food borne illnesses such as salmonella, shigellosis, and other bacteria related food poisonings will increase due to the rapid rise in temperature. These diseases can cause gastrointestinal problems, even death. An increase in rain flow causes flooding which can lead to an increase in food contamination. Water borne diseases Cryptosporidium and Giardia increase with heavy rainfall, and these parasites can be very harmful to the human body. Animal borne diseases such as Lyme disease and West Nile virus will increase as air temperature rises. Ticks and mosquito population will grow rapidly and conditions will be favorable for new strains of the diseases listed above. These diseases will have an effect on my career as a Forensic

As a result of the mosquitoes physically being able to occupy a different vector, certain diseases also begin to expand to occupy that vector as well. As stated by an article about the population dynamics of mosquitoes, “global changes . . . lead to an extension of the distribution areas of certain mosquito species and the emergence of associated vector-borne diseases” (Ezanno et al.). As mosquitoes shift the vector of where they live as a result of this global warming, they bring what they have with them. In this case, this means that the mosquitoes bring these diseases with them throughout this new vector. Not only do mosquitoes bring these diseases with them to these new places, depending on the climate in this new area, certain diseases

Vector-borne infectious disease: As the climate changes, temperatures increase, and precipitation levels rise, causing species patterns to change, such as those of mosquitos and ticks. In addition, it too introduces new pests and pathogens into new regions, such as the Zika virus, which has shown to be fatal to the human population.

Global warming may increase the risk of some infectious diseases, like malaria, dengue fever, yellow fever, and encephalitis. These diseases are spread by mosquitoes and other insects, and could become more common if a rise in temperature allows those insects to live farther north. Also, the increase in rainfall that is likely to occur with an increase in global temperature would serve to help increase the reproduction of the vectors. In February 1999, Britain's Institute of Animal Health linked outbreaks of the lethal horse fever virus in Africa to the El Nino phenomenon. The warming and increase in rainfall in Africa caused by El Nino led to many more horses being bitten by infected vectors. The scientists said their research shows this pattern is likely to happen with other vector-borne diseases when global warming occurs. Increased temperatures could also reduce the gestation periods of disease vectors, which could aid the breeding of strains resistant to pesticides. Scientists also hypothesize that algae

These vectors can carry infective pathogens such as viruses, bacteria, and protozoa, which can be transferred from one host (carrier) to another. The seasonality, distribution, and prevalence of vector-borne diseases are influenced significantly by climate factors, primarily high and low temperature extremes and precipitation patterns. Climate change is likely to have both short- and long-term effects on vector-borne disease transmission and infection patterns, affecting both seasonal risk and broad geographic changes in disease occurrence over decades (see Figure ES6). While climate variability and climate change both alter the transmission of vector-borne diseases, they will likely interact with many other factors, including how pathogens adapt and change, the availability of hosts, changing ecosystems and land use, demographics, human behavior, and adaptive capacity. These complex interactions make it difficult to predict the effects of climate change on vector-borne

Climate change is one of the most important challenges of humankind in this century. The ability to adapt, mitigate and reduce carbon emissions will be decisive to preserve the world for future generations. The last IPCC report has provided more evidence regarding the rise in temperature and sea level. Apparently, additional 2°C above the pre-industrial average temperature levels is unavoidable, and it will continue at that level due the accumulation of gases in the atmosphere (Solomon 2009). Climate change will affect people all around the world in different ways, though the capacity to cope with it is different among regions and countries. The Latin America region is notably susceptible to climate change, due its geographical position, population location and its economy relying in natural resources (Vergara et. al. 2013a). The withdrawal of the coral biome, glaciers melting, jungles & forest savannization and strongest climate events are only some of the threats that will affect their inhabitants.

Climate change looms large over our rapidly growing and continually changing world. No longer are the adverse effects of this menacing global issue a mere ominous projections, they are starting to become a very concrete reality. Countries are today experiencing rising sea levels, which compromises coastal infrastructure, prolonged drought, squeezing food supply and agricultural productivity, as well as extreme storms. Rising temperatures have already led to vast reductions in the size of the Arctic. There is now no doubt amongst scientists that anthropogenic activity has been the primary catalyst to the

When you hear the words “climate change” what comes to mind? Probably weather and the changes. Many of us watch the news or use an app on our cellphones/electronic devices to keep an eye on the weather for the day, week, or even the month. But, there is actually a difference between weather and climate. Weather is actually “the changes we see and feel outside from day to day. It might rain one day and be sunny the next. Weather also changes from place to place” (Dunbar, 2014). Whereas “climate is the usual weather of a place. Climate can be different for different seasons. Different places can have different climates” (Dunbar, 2014). This paper will focus on the ins and outs of climate change, specifically focusing on what climate change

The concept of climate change has been around for quite a while. The earliest mention of climate change dates back to the 19th century. Swedish scientist, Svante Archenius was the first scientist to study the effect of CO2 on climate. (Rodhe et al 1997)